Price for Freedom
by Silver Dragon 2488
Summary: Absols are called the disaster pokemon. Well, the description couldn't be more right when it comes to this particular Absol... and even though her rebellious spirit is still alive, it gets her captured... MY GOD, ANOTHER UPDATE!
1. Capture

Hello, everyone! This is my first Pokemon fic (but not my very first fic at all) and I am rather excited! Like all of my stories, I am improvising here, and do not know quite where to go with this or what will become of it, but rest assured that Inspiration will find its way to me. It usually does. -

Now, stats. This… well, it's from a pokemon's point of view. An Absol's to be specific. -

Disclaimer: I own no one, except for the concept of the story and the names. I do not care if this plot has already been done or not. Ha.

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter One

Capture

The sun was setting, its glorious oranges, reds, and yellows streaming over my forest in the sky. Pidgey and Butterfree soared into the sky, their shapes becoming dots to my eyes as they flew further and further away. The forest was coming alive and winding down at the same time; nocturnal and day-loving pokemon waking up and falling asleep simultaneously.

Needless to say, it was boring as hell.

I licked my chops in irritation. Why was dusk always the most boring part of the day? I guessed my boredom was because of the fact that I probably had A.D.D. as my old trainer used to say… but…

I growled at the memory of my old trainer. _Stupid little punk-ass jerk. He trained me until I was going to collapse, and when he finally likes me enough to where he'd use me in trainer-battles, he dumps me for a Pidgeot! A PIDGEOT!! Damn him…_

Great. Now I was pissed off. I rolled onto my back, liking the feel of the cool stone boulder beneath me. It was an old habit, rolling over when I was pissed. Somehow, the feeling of my feet dangling in the air soothed me. I sighed and let the memories roll past me. Besides, I had things to do tonight. Like scare some trainers, beat some trainees up (pokemon that have been captured) and…eat breakfast.

I picked myself off of the boulder and stretched out my black and white body. Hunting time was about to come. I gave one last glance to the setting sun and looked for a good place to start. As soon as I spotted a favorite trail, I hopped off of my boulder.

I shook myself and looked out upon the rich, green forest. My kind, Absol, were not usually found in forests, but I preferred the safety of trees rather than tall grass. Grass was just too… exposing, I guess.

Anyway, I bounded off into the depths of the sweet-smelling forest. My claws made little sound as I trotted through the trees and my ears paying close attention to anything my acute senses picked up. A rattata breathing, a pidgey singing its nightly song, a tauros stamping its foot about to charge…

Wait a minute…

I looked to where the sound was coming from, and sure enough, a big, bad tauros was about to skewer me. I sighed, and recognized this particular tauros as one that I had liked to "torment" (as he likes to put it) when I first got to the forest. He doesn't like me much...

"Not you again…," I mumbled. He didn't take too kindly to that.

"STUPID DARKLING!!" the tauros shouted over his own stampeding, "GO BACK TO THE FIELDS WHERE YOU BELONG!! BETTER YET, YOUR STUPID TRAINER!!!"

A vein popped in my head. Muscles tensed. Hackles raised. I growled.

Now, if I had been in my right mind, I wouldn't have stopped dead in my tracks. Neither would I have turned around and started to charge at the tauros who weighed 82 pounds more than I did, or began to attack him with all my vigor while simultaneously insulting him.

I jumped and landed directly on the tauros's back, surprising him quite well.

"You stupid bull!" I roared as my dug my fangs deep into his ears and neck, "You think that just because you're a friggen' NORMIE that you can go and insult me like that?? KEEP IN MIND THAT I AM FAR STRONGER THAN YOU, HOOFER!" At that, I pushed off with my clawed feet and landed neatly a few feet away, while the tauros was sent sprawling.

"Yeah, yeah, you like that?" I yelled as the tauros struggled to its feet. He looked up at me fearfully and said apologetically, "I-I'm s-s-sorry… I…"

"Yeah, just get out of here," I growled, turning back to the way I had come from. I was now even more tense and pissed off, so every creature made it their goal for the night to stay out of my way. I found a berry bush and began to munch angrily on it when a familiar canine laugh sounded to my right.

"Man, you are really ticked off tonight aren't you?" the mighyena chortled as he made his way to my bush. "That time of the month?"

I snarled at him. "NO, it isn't Hicha. Why is it, whenever a girl is pissed off, you men always assume that it's THAT time of the month?"

He laughed, which didn't do much to lighten my mood. "Because we have no other option to consider." I shrugged, seeing as how he had made a good point and had no snide remark to go after it. He laid down beside me and asked, "So why are you so mad?"

I picked another pecha berry from its branch with my teeth. "That stupid tauros told me to go back to my stupid trainer who stupid abandoned me."

Hicha's eyes went wide. He knew of my wrath when "the-trainer-that-shall-not-be-named" was mentioned, though he had never been subject to it. "What did you do…?" he asked softly.

I rolled my eyes as if the answer was obvious. "I beat the shit out of him! What do you expect?" I picked another berry from its vine and chewed on it while I let the mightyena think that one over. He knew that my level was extremely high, and I had a few… unorthodox attacks in my brain. But, after a few minutes he just shook his head.

"You should just get over that, you know," he said sagely, crossing his sleek black paws in the process. Great. Now he was being my mother? …Er… Father? "All that'll happen is you getting hurt more and more if you hang onto those memories. One of these days, when you go trainer-scaring, you're going to run into one that'll capture you, and you won't be able to do anything about it."

I scoffed. "I'll get over it when you quit sniffing other people's butts."

He looked offended, and defended himself with, "That is merely my way of saying hello!"

"To all of the women but never any men? Seems sexist to me."

He put his muzzle in the air. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Uh-huh." Under my breath I added, "Stupid perverted canine…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" I replied all too cheerfully not to be suspicious of. "Now, come on. I want to go scarin' tonight." With all 42 of my pearly teeth exposed in an evil grin, I began to trot over to the trail.

Hicha eyed me warily at first, but then he shrugged it off and followed. Besides, what darkling doesn't like to have fun once in a while?

-

"My butt hurts."

"I'm sure it does."

"My legs are cramping."

I rolled my eyes. "Then stretch!"

"And risk being seen? I think not," Hicha answered haughtily.

"Then quit whimpering!" I whispered harshly, having to look over my shoulder in order to look at him full in the face.

"I am not whimpering!"

I cocked an eyebrow.

He shuffled uncomfortably behind me. "I'm just… making sure that you have a distraction from your own pain. I'm sure you're very uncomfortable, would you like to find some berries with me?"

I didn't really feel like dignifying his stupid question with an oral response, so I merely slapped my tail against his furry cheek. Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes alerted my attention back to the trail, and Hicha followed my gaze. I smiled at the sight.

There was a trainer, looking rather lost and a little scared. Her long brown, almost black hair was shining in the moonlight, the hair cascading over her shoulders. She was about 5'9" and had a slightly pale complection, as if she had been in the sun for quite a while. A rather large, strong jolteon was walking beside her, his energy sparking as though he had too much to control. But I knew it was battle lust.

This jolteon wanted to fight.

I shifted out of my crouch and prepared myself to jump when Hicha grabbed my tail via his jaws.

"Shiz… what're you doing, Hicha?" I asked perturbed; I had finally found a pokemon worthy of me!

Hicha growled through his teeth and my tail. "I don't like it, girl. That jolteon down there is giving me the creeps. I'm not sure you can beat him…"

Letting my ego get the better of me, I furiously slapped his jaws away from my tail and jumped down onto the trail, growling. The girl stopped short, and smiled.

"Aww, snap, Tai! We got ourselves an Absol! A strong one too!" the trainer proclaimed. She shifted into what looked like a practiced battle stance, and the jolteon called Tai ran out in front of her, looking as eager as she did. I scoffed, but my eyes widened as they fell to look on her jacket, which was proudly displaying her won badges.

The first eight were from Kanto. The next set of eight was from Johto. And… shit… there were six more from my own region of Hoenn. Tai apparently knew what I was staring at and said, "You see all them badges? I helped win every one of them." His snarl/smirk widened, revealing his white teeth. "You're mine, wench."

I tore my gaze away from the unsettling sight of the 22 badges to my sneering opponent. "You have it wrong," I replied, and rushed forward with an extremespeed attack.

The girl somehow must have seen that coming, because right at that moment, she called, "Tai! Dodge it! Thunder!!"

The jolteon moved out of my way so fast, I almost ran into the trainer herself. I whirled around only to see the jolteon's body light up with his electricity, and then I felt nothing but extreme pain.

I screamed without realizing it. How could this guy's voltage be so high? When the thunder stopped, I fell to the ground, my blackened body not being able to hold me up. I heard the girl's voice from behind me.

"Ultra ball! Go!"

NO!! I jumped up out of the way of the capturing device, and turned back to the jolteon, who was quite surprised to see me up after his ultimate attack. The trainer behind me gave a confused "huh" and settled into her battle stance again.

"Okay, Tai. Looks like she still has a bit of spunk left in her! Use pin missile! Not too much, though!"

I growled. _I refuse to be captured again. Not again. I will NOT be another slave to another human! I REFUSE!_ With my declaration clear in my mind, I jumped high into the air, and performed an attack that would render dear Tai quite useless.

"EARTHQUAKE!!" I screamed, a giant fissure forming from underneath my feet.

"The hell??!?" Tai screamed, and was then silenced by my attack. After the earth righted itself, he tried to get up, but ended up falling back down.

Despite my labored panting, I smiled. "That's what you get, trainer's pet," I said in disdain. Tai merely glared at me, and then allowed himself to be withdrawn into his poke ball. I turned back to the girl, listening to her talk to herself.

"Damn," she said in a low voice, "That thing's strong… Hmm.. Then I'll need…"

"Girl!" I heard from my side, coming from the bushes. I turned and saw Hicha, the most panicked I had ever seen him, frantically shifting from one foot to the other. His level was way below these pokemon, and he knew that if he jumped in to save my hide, I would only shove him back. "Hurry! While the trainer's distracted!"

I hardly had time to say "hell no" before the trainer yelled out, "Amburna! GO!!"

I looked up and before me materialized a sparkling, beautiful dragonair. Where was this trainer-girl getting all of these pokemon?? The dragonair looked at me with something a kin to pity as the trainer girl exclaimed, "Amburna! Dragon rage!!"

I hardly had time to blink before a giant, swirling mass of power was thrown at me. I skidded against the road, unable to do much else. I groaned softly in pain. Poke gods, were these guys tough! I was vaguely aware of the trainer girl calling out the ultra ball, when she abruptly stopped in mid sentence and said nothing else. Had she internally combusted?

In hope, I strained a weary eye open to see Hicha standing in front of me, growling. He was shaking like a leaf caught in a gale, but he was defending me nonetheless. The dragonair was not phased, she still had that look of pity upon her, and readied herself for an attack to get rid of my friend.

"Amburna!" the trainer-girl called, "This mightyena isn't a part of this! Lure him away!"

I saw the glistening dragonair nod her head once and then flew over Hicha's head, cupping her blue tail against Hicha's stomach, flinging him about twenty feet away from me. I turned my already fading vision to the trainer girl, who had another ultra ball in her hand.

__

No…

"ULTRA BALL!"

__

Not again…

"**GO!!!**"

I heard Hicha screaming my nickname behind me as the ball gently collided against my sore side. I saw a flash of red, and then felt nothing.

Well, that's it for the first chappie. I hope you liked it! -

Sucky? Okay? The greatest thing you ever read? (Not bloody likely) Then tell me by pressing that button right down there!


	2. And Again

Wow, ya'll seem to like it! ::beams happily:: I'm also happy that some of you seem to like this Absol's personality. Yay! I hope you all like the other pokemon… they all have their own special traits… Love ya'll!

Cd for today? Um… _Titanic_ soundtrack. Pretty muusic. -

Disclaimer: I own naught but the names and the plot. Wow… RHYME-AGE!!

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter Two

And Again

I woke up to the smell of medicine. I could already tell I was in a Pokemon center by the stink of anti-biotics, the feel of the hard, metal table underneath me, and by the sound of Nurse Joy's voice.

"Oh! She's waking up! Shayla! Come here!" Nurse Joy called.

Shayla? Was that the name of my… new trainer? With the repulsive thought in my head, I opened my eyes to see the trainer-girl and the nurse hovering over me, staring. Startled, I let a frightened yelp out of my mouth, and then somehow landed on the floor. I scooted away from the trainer-girl, who was trying to console me.

"Hey, girl, it's okay…" she cooed, holding her gloved hand out for me. I growled and snapped at the offered hand. The girl took back her hand and then looked up at Nurse joy, apparently at a loss.

Nurse Joy looked sympathetic. "You picked a stubborn Absol to capture, Shayla," she said softly. "That Absol's been here a few years, but when she first got here, she was abandoned by her trainer."

Shayla's eyes widened. "What?" she asked in a soft voice. At this, I rolled my eyes. This girl's probably let some pokemon go in a place where they don't know what's what as well. _That's what trainers do, _I thought callously. _They train and keep the strong ones and torture and release the useless ones. There's no escaping it…_

But Nurse Joy nodded. "I remember the trainer. He was a stocky boy, with brown hair and blue eyes… and he was always training that Absol. Then, I guess he got fed up with her stubborn attitude and left her out here. He destroyed her poke ball."

Shayla's eyes softened as they turned on me. I expected her to say, "So that's how you could use earthquake," but she didn't. She merely looked at me with such sympathy and pity that it made me want to retch. Her expression almost matched the dragonair's.

Shayla stood up slowly and held out my ultra ball. Then, I was summoned into the red light until my trainer wished me to come back out.

-

The ride in the ultra ball really wasn't all that bad. It wasn't as cramped as I thought it would be, especially compared to a poke ball. By the time the trainer-girl let me back out, it was nighttime again, and the rest of the team was out as well. As soon as I materialized, the trainer-girl put down a bowl of food for me, and then began to talk to me.

"I'm sorry about your trainer, babe," she said softly, while squeezing a few mixed berries onto my food. "I might know how you feel, but I guess that's for later." She smiled at me and then gestured to the rest of her pokemon and said, "I hope you get along with the rest of us. Hope you like the food too." With that, she left me to the other five pokemon and went to the campfire, going to her book and leaving the acquaintances to us.

That surprised me. She was actually considering my feelings? Huh. Strange. I perked my nose to my food, which was wafting soft, mouth-watering fragrances into my face. I could almost taste the pecha berries…

"Are you just going to stare at your food or what?"

I looked up to see Tai the jolteon staring at me with an incredulous look as if I had never seen food before. "Because if you don't want it, I'll take it."

I glared, and turned my attention to the rest of the group. There was the dragonair from earlier, an espeon, a scizor and a charizard. They were all eating their food hungrily, and I looked back down to my own food. Still not sure about it, I called out to the most amiable-looking one, the dragonair named Amburna.

"Oi… Amburna. How's it taste?"

The shimmering dragonair looked up from her bowl and smiled. "Different from yours. She puts different seasonings according to the pokemon. I have cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in mine. From what I can tell, she put berries in yours."

Tai finished munching on his food, and commented, "Yeah, like she put in mine. So, are you going to eat yours or not? 'Cause if you ain't, I'd gladly like to-"

SMACK!

Tai's plea was abruptly cut off by the charizard's tail pounding him into the ground. "Be kind to the lady!" the fire dragon proclaimed, glowering at the pummeled thunder dog. "You stupid gluttonous pig!"

I chuckled. I was already beginning to like this charizard. The espeon was shaking his head slowly and the dragonair threw a rock at Tai. "Tai," Amburna scolded, "this is no time for that. She's new, and you don't need to make her feel more uncomfortable."

Tai grumbled something incoherent and probably insulting to me in the dirt. I let it roll, and finally decided to eat my food. After my first taste, my mouth watered for more. Damn, this stuff was GOOD!

Since I was stuffing my face full of the food, I didn't notice the espeon come up to me and sit down. Actually, I think he was there for a few minutes before I realized he was sitting beside me. Had he not cleared his throat, I would have never noticed him.

When I lifted my head, he smiled. "I'm sure Tai or Shayla haven't told you our names yet," he offered. Embarrassed, I shook my white head and wiped some crumbs off of my face with my clawed paw. He nodded to the dragonair and said, "From what she tells me, you've already met Amburna." At my nod, he smiled. "She said you fight well… Have you been trained before?"

I was really surprised at how amiable this espeon was being. Usually, psychic types tend to keep away from darklings. Also, it surprised me that even though he was talking about my old trainer, I didn't want to beat him up. He was just… too damn nice. All I did to reply was simply nod.

He smiled again, and nodded to the charizard. "That's Shoko, Shayla's second pokemon. He's helped her win all of her badges, and he -with the exception of Tai- is the only one that came from Kanto with Shayla. All the rest of us came to her in Johto. I myself was a gift to her from her parents when she was traveling around in Johto, and have been with her ever since."

I was amazed at how open he was being with me. I knew that I was the new teammate and all, but even back when I was with my old trainer, none of the pokemon talked to me much, and I had to figure everything out on my own. Why was he…?

Before I had acknowledged that information had sunk in, he was already telling me about Saji, the scizor. Apparently, Saji had been caught as a syther, but Shayla wanted him to be stronger, and after consulting it with him, (to this, my eyes bulged) they decided to get him to evolve. Saji had been with the team for 3 years now, one of the older patrons of the team.

"And I'm Kazu," the espeon said, turning to me. "I've been with the team for two and a half years, and helped win fourteen badges." At this, he beamed and I felt myself smiling. "I'm also Tai's little brother."

"I'm sorry," I replied, looking at Tai, who was now trying to beg some food off of Saji. Apparently, Tai was a little glutton. Kazu merely laughed.

"I am too sometimes," he commented. "Oh, and just so you know, Shayla's probably going to give you a nickname as well. Don't worry," he said at my disgusted expression, "She's good with names. She won't give you a cliché name like 'Midnight' or something. Heck, my nickname means 'number'." He smiled again and went over to his brother, who had just gotten beaten down by the scizor. Again, all I could do was smile…

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For the day and a half that I had been with Shayla and the others, I had learned that Shayla was quite the confident one.

"AMBURNA! ICE BEAM THAT BIOTCH!!!"

I sat on the sidelines with the other five pokemon as Amburna executed one of the strongest ice beams I had ever seen. The golem didn't stand a chance as the ice beam hit it and he went down for the count. The trainer tsked and returned the defeated golem, trying to figure out what to do next. Suddenly, a smile came to his lips and he sent out his next pokemon.

"This dude doesn't stand a chance," Tai whispered to Saji. "Look at him. He's a shmuck. A good for nothing shmuck! No way he can beat our Amburna."

Saji's face grew grim as a jynx appeared out of the red light from the poke ball. "Really?"

Amburna's eyes widened as the jynx performed an ice beam, hitting the dragonair directly in the abdomen. Shayla yelled something, but my ears didn't catch it. I was just shocked as hell to see Amburna go down like that. Sure, she wasn't fainted, but she was damn close. Apparently, Shayla thought this as well.

"Amburna! Good work! Return!" she called. My comrade went obediently into her poke ball, and Shayla winked at me.

"You up to it, girl?" she asked. It took a while for my brain to process that she was speaking to me. Tai nudged me with his spiny elbow.

"You going or do I have to cover your white ass?" he asked, to which I slapped my tail in response. It was a jynx. I could take a jynx…

I hope…

I trotted out to the battlefield and took up my battle stance. The other trainer, a nerdy-looking boy with bright blonde hair and large, oblong glasses snorted when he took a look at me.

"An absol?!" he cried, laughing in an obnoxious way. "That's a pussy's pokemon! I thought you would send out the scizor, being good against both ice and psychic, but not this wimp's pokemon!" He kept laughing, and I heard Tai cheering for me to kick the little guy's ass. The jynx laughed as well.

"Well dearie," she said, beginning to sway her hips hypnotically, "Have a nice nap…"

"Jynx! Sweet kiss!"

"Absol! Dodge it!!"

The jynx came at me, but way slower than what I'd thought. I got out of the way by running to the left of the pokemon and got to where I faced her back. Automatically, I jumped for the neck and bit.

The jynx screamed, and I think Shayla was taken back. After all, she hadn't told me to use "bite". But all the same, the punk jynx went down and I strode triumphantly over her fainted body back over to my side of the battle field. Unfortunately, the jynx was the last pokemon the punk had.

"Damn… you win…" he said, and reached into his poket for the prize money. Shayla took it and then whispered, "And don't you make fun of my pokemon again, you hear me? Or else, I might be forced to clobber you again."

She walked away from the creep towards us and knelt down in front of me with a slight scowl on her face. She looked me in the eye and said, "Now, babe, I know you're an experienced fighter, and you've been owned before, but you must not act until I tell you. Otherwise, you and the others could get hurt." I couldn't tell if she could read my "whatever" expression but then, her face changed to a bright smile.

"On the bright side, I've found you a nickname!" she exclaimed. At this, the other pokemon gathered toward us and listened closely. Tai asked if it was something befitting to my nature like "super bitch" or "xena: warrior princess," but thankfully, Shoko the charizard took care of him for me. :) Shayla was oblivious to this and brought out a greek mythology book and turned to a certain page.

" 'Demi-cerberus: a two-headed dog that wanders the world in search of victims. It stalks innocents in the shadows, not caring who becomes their prey. They are characterized most as "sadistic, evil and mischevious." They love to pull tricks on others and lead people to their doom by bounding into the woods and leading their victims off of cliffs.' " She looked up from the book and smiled.

"And since you've proven yourself to be a mischevious little thing, I've decided to nickname you 'Demi'. Do you like it?"

I cocked my head to the side. She was asking my opinion? Well…

I gave a shrug of my shoulders, to which she took it as a 'yes'. "Good!" she said happily and put everyone back into their poke balls. "Now that you've got a nickname, we can go to the pokemon center and get Amburna healed."

I went into my ultra ball with no fuss, seeing as how I was still pondering on my nickname. "Demi"… Hmm… Sadistic… evil… mischevious…

Maybe going around with this bunch of psychos wasn't going to be so bad after all.

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So how'd you like it? ::pleaful eyes:: I hope you did! I love ya'll!

Ja ne!


	3. High Class

Well, the puppy's been taken away… :) Maybe she'll be able to recover… but I doubt that. At least she won't be in pain anymore.

OH! Squishy and Fred (my two fish) got a new tank today! ::squeals:: They were originally in a one-gallon tank, but now, they be in a FIVE gallon tank! Squishy, my beta, was zooming around it, checking out the new plants we put in... HE LOVES IT!!! As for Fred, he just went to sucking on the walls. :)

Disclaimer: I own the plot, the names and Shayla.

Underlined words shall be defined at the end.

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 3

High Class

"I don't like boats…" Tai said as he stared down at the ferry about fifty yards away from his perch on the cliff he and I and the rest of the team were sitting on. "I don't like them at all."

I sighed and began to follow Shayla down to the dock, Shoko, Saji and Amburna (who was now healed) in front of me. Kazu the espeon was on the other side of Tai, looking as grim as his older brother. Apparently, the loathing of water-faring vehicles ran in the family. Kazu furrowed his brow.

"Maybe I could just teleport myself and Tai over to the other coast?" he asked, looking up to me like I had the answer. I shrugged and replied, "Kazu, you don't know where we're going. You don't know what it looks like. You're in a place you don't know and the dangers are unfamiliar. There's no way that could happen. Besides, you two are men, aren't you? Suck it up!" With that, I turned and left, knowing the two eevee-loutions would follow.

I heard Tai grumbling again, something about someone being a big bitch. (Hmm… I wonder who he could be talking about…) I sighed again and went further down the cliff, wincing as the hot sand of the beach came in contact with my soft paws. Amburna smiled at my attempt to keep my paws from scalding.

"The sand a little hot for you?" she asked while hovering above the aforementioned sand. My only response was my continuing attempt to cool my feet while on hot sand. I saw her smile out of the corner of my eye, and that was when the sky darkened and Amburna began to glow.

I heard Tai say, "What the hell?" from behind me. Not caring about my feet anymore, I watched in amazement as Amburna glowed a beautiful blue, and, surprisingly, rain began to drizzle from the sky, cooling the sand beneath my feet.

"There you go," she said, smiling at me, simultaneously making the clouds disappear. She continued to hover after our trainer Shayla over to where the ferry was. Tai and Kazu groaned at the same time, and I smiled to myself. This boat ride was going to be very interesting…

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:)

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I never knew so many pokemon could be snobs.

We had already boarded the boat, and were now venturing around the common living room, where most of the trainers and their pokemon were already situated, be they on chairs, sofas or just standing. All five of my comrades and I were gazing in amazement at the tastefully furnished common room, where a gorgeous chandelier was hanging above us on the ceiling.

Actually, for a ferry, it was very well decorated, and many of the trainers and their pokemon looked as if the were pokemon contest competitors. I even spotted a milotic not too far away, her body radiating beauty. Saji let out a low whistle, and I turned to where he was looking at -the buffet.

Food was EVERYWHERE. Steaming beef, pork, wheat breads, white breads, noodles, chicken, stew, pastas that I couldn't identify, lasagna, and many different kinds of casserole were sitting on the 30-foot stretch of tables, glistening in this holy light. I could swear I could hear angels singing right about then. As for the layout of desserts, THAT is what caught my attention.

Alas, poor Tai was so moved by the table of delicious foods, he began to stagger over to it, his mouth agape and drool oozing out of it. Once he got to the table itself, he jumped up onto his hind legs and stared at the food, not hearing the people scream in disgust behind him. Apparently, he made them lose their appetites…

"I… am in heaven," the jolteon proclaimed, still staring at the food. Saji chuckled and picked Tai up and set him down, facing away from the glorious table of food. Tai whimpered and tried to go back to the table, but Saji wouldn't allow that.

"You have to let go, Tai. You can't hold onto it forever," Saji said sadly, putting himself between the table and the disgruntled jolteon. Tai was now shedding tears, wanting his food back. I shook my head and left the two to settle it out, wanting to go and look at the other pretty things that were in the ferry.

I remembered the chandelier and decided to stare at it more before I found something else to look at. Since I was staring up at the ceiling as I walked, I didn't notice a plump wigglytuff standing in my walking path. I bumped into her, causing her to fall on her pink posterior. She gave a shocked "oh!" when she hit the floor, and I directed my attention to her.

"Oh.. Sorry, didn't see ya there." Tai began to snicker behind me, and I was about to shut his mouth when the wigglytuff pulled a doubleslap on me.

WHAP

WHAP

WHAP

WHAP

WHAP

She stood there, huffing and puffing (maybe trying to blow my house down… but not on the hairs of my chiny-chin-chin… sorry, bad joke) while I stood there, shocked and somewhat appalled. The little bitch had just slapped me!

I turned to her and she roared -in the most horrible British accent I had ever heard, "You grimy dog! How DARE you run into me and make me embarrass myself! And what's worse, you are filthy as a diglett in mud, and now you have put your dirty germs on me! HOW RUDE!"

She began to walk off, but I had other thoughts. I lunged at her, and performed a rather effective slash attack on her pompous derrière. Tai and Saji cheered for me, the table of food forgotten, while Amburna, Shoko and Kazu were silent, but I could see the smiles. Shayla was off talking to some trainer, so she had no idea what was going on.

Meanwhile, the wigglytuff turned, her face one of pure rage. I smirked, and said, "You started it, wigglytuff-hime. I may not be a high-class girl myself, but I'm not about to let fat-assed push-overs like yourself to tell me what I can and can't do. So…" I went into my battle-stance as did the wigglytuff. The pokemon surrounding us saw what was going on, and began to crowd around us, wanting to watch the fight.

The wigglytuff went first, trying to knock me out by using "sing". The melody rang in my ears, comforting and soothing. I shook it out of my head and lunged at the normal-type, using thunderbolt once I got in contact with her. It hurts more that way.

She squealed and fell to the ground, almost to the fainting point. I frowned. "You talk like a warrior queen, but you have nothing to back it up," I said to her. She was already down, and yet I hadn't even broken a sweat. What a bummer…

I shrugged and went back over to my team, where Tai and Saji the scizor were congratulating me for my victory. The other three pokemon looked uneasily at me and then to the wigglytuff, who had just been summoned back into her poke ball by her trainer. I looked questioningly to them, when Kazu used telepathy to tell me what was going on.

[[Demi,]] he spoke worriedly in my head, [[The trainer's super-pissed! He's going to drag you back out into battle! He might have really good pokemon…]]

I scoffed and went over to where Kazu was sitting, seeing as how my telepathy skills were… somewhat lacking… "Then find out, Kazu," I replied, sitting down beside the worried espeon. "Look inside the dude's poke balls and see what's there."

He grimaced, and then sighed in acquiescence. A moment later, his eyes glowed red, and his voice when he began to speak was a tad… out there…

"He has the wigglytuff, a hitmonchan, a banette, a grandevoir, a mightyena, and a ninetails. They are within the thirty to forty levels… not too incredibly strong…"

I smiled as his eyes dimmed to their regular color, an ebony black. "See?" I said, my smile growing. "I'm stronger than them. In fact, I could beat those punks down in my sleep! Nothing'll go wrong, Kazu-kun."

He was startled about the suffix, but he didn't pay too much mind to it. "Maybe," he responded uneasily. "But we should get Shayla just in case."

I sighed and trotted over to the trainer with the pompous wigglytuff and he frowned. "So you're the absol that hurt my precious wigglytuff! You'll pay, you third-rater!" he exclaimed. I blinked and scratched my ruff in response. Maybe being delusional ran in this dude's team…

Shayla came up from behind me and sighed. "Demi, I can see you're living up to your name…" she grumbled from behind me. I smiled inwardly.

"So you're the trainer of that THING?!" the dude exclaimed, pointing at me as if I were a disgusting dunsparse or something. "You need to train your pokemon better, peasant!"

I looked behind me and saw the furious scowl on Shayla's face, making somewhat afraid of her. She had never looked so incredibly pissed in the time that I knew her… I looked over to Tai, who was grimacing. He whispered to Saji that the guy (I'm presuming the trainer) was going to get his insensitive ass kicked hard. I turned my attention back to Shayla, who replied in a scarily controlled voice, "Do not insult my pokemon like that, sir. Or else I may have to show you what they can do."

The boy snarled. "Then come at me, peasant!"

She snarled and said, "Come on, Demi! Let's get rid of this annoying bugger!!"

I grinned even more and jumped out further into the battlefield, wagging my tail anxiously. I mentally dared him to send out the hitmonchan, to which he obliged.

"Trophy! Go!"

The hitmonchan appeared in front of me, a triumphant smirk on his face. "You're going down, wench."

I snickered. Funny how everyone who says that to me, loses within two turns.

"Demi! Earthquake!!!"

The hitmonchan looked up to me as I jumped and made the floor crack and split right under the fighting-type, and down he went. I landed coolly on my feet when the floor righted itself and the trainer-boy returned his only chance of defeating me.

"Koka! Go!!"

The ninetails. She was really pretty, her nine tails swishing here and there. She looked at me with her deep, crimson eyes, and then sighed. "I already know I'm going to lose, so go ahead, dear. Make it quick."

I nodded sympathetically, not really liking to fight pokemon that had no will to fight themselves. Shayla ordered a water pulse attack, and I gave it my all so that the ninetails wouldn't have to suffer for long.

She fainted, and went back into her luxury ball. The boy snarled some more, and then sent out his next pokemon.

"Ribbons! Go!!"

The banette appeared, and as his nickname suggests, was covered in gaudy ribbons. I actually pitied the ghost, for it was a man. He looked at me with such a hilarious expression, I giggled.

"So, Ribbons, your master have any idea what he's doing?"

The banette sighed. "Apparently not, since he sent me out against you."

Shayla also laughed. "You do realize, ghost-types are WEAK against darks?"

He gasped. "I thought it was the other way around!"

"Demi! Crunch!!!"

I lunged and bit the ghost with all my might, hoping that the attack would get through all of the ribbons adorning the ghost's body. He fainted, and was withdrawn back into his poke ball.

The boy snarled some more. "Well, then I'll need to fight fire with fire! Cho! GO!!!"

I smiled and waited for the mightyena to materialize. But when he did, my heart stopped. The mightyena stopped in his tracks, staring straight back at me. My mouth fumbled over his name, and finally, my vocal chords worked.

"H… Hicha…"

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-hime: a suffix used for some royalty. In this case, princess. (wigglytuff-hime = Princess wigglytuff.)

-kun: a suffix generally used for male friends. Can be used for females in the co-worker or classmate sense, but is most common with males. Or so I heard.

Mwahahahahahahahahaha. I shall end the chappie here and leave you all in suspense!!!

Not much to say today. Love ya'll!

Ja ne!


	4. Reunited Yet Divided

Jello… I wish to say that Friday, July 16th, 2004 is a day of mourning, for my youngest plecko, Dave died. I have no idea how… only that he did. I think what happened was he sucked on the blue ick pill that I had put in there for Sheik (one of my red betas- he has ick right now) and it… killed him. ::sniffle:: I miss my Dave… Anyway, it was so sad!! When I had found Dave floating, Sheik was kinda poking at him (not eating him… I would've seen that) to make him move… Poor Sheik was devastated by Dave's death… he's still mourning for him, stopping whenever he comes to the corner of the tank where we got Dave out. We got another plecko, Joe, but I think Sheik still misses Dave, though he is doing better.

Dave is now resting in the backyard, a pile of stones for a gravemarker.

Disclaimer: I own the names of the pokemon, but not the actual pokemon, Shayla and… I think that's it.

****

Price for Freedom

Chapter 4

Reunited Yet Divided

I lunged and bit the ghost with all my might, hoping that the attack would get through all of the ribbons adorning the ghost's body. He fainted, and was withdrawn back into his poke ball.

The boy snarled some more. "Well, then I'll need to fight fire with fire! Cho! GO!!!"

I smiled and waited for the mightyena to materialize. But when he did, my heart stopped. The mightyena stopped in his tracks, staring straight back at me. My mouth fumbled over his name, and finally, my vocal chords worked.

"H… Hicha…"

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I stood there for an unknown period of time, staring at my friend. He was staring as well… but not with the expression that I figured. Instead of shocked and exhilarated, I saw shocked, yes, but also suspicion, and a forming... hostility in his eyes? What the heck?

"Hicha! It's me!" I practically shouted, slowly making my way to his side of the "field". As I approached, his lips drew back in an even bigger snarl.

"Stay back, filthy absol! I'm warning you!" he shouted, his teeth and gums now in full view. I stopped in my tracks, blinking in confusion. This was Hicha… wasn't it?

"Hicha, don't you remember me?" I asked, not sure I wanted the answer. I heard Tai shout something from behind me, but I didn't register the meaning. All of my attention was focused on the mightyena in front of me.

His response startled me. "Keh. Of course I do. You're the stinking absol that abandoned me and left me in the forest to die!!" With that, he lunged at me, sinking his sharp fangs into my flesh at the base of my neck. For one moment, I was blinded by pain, his bite attack having an unusual affect on me. In fact, I couldn't move afterwards. My stunned, bleeding body crumpled to the polished floor, apparently alarming my comrades.

"DEMI!!" Tai shouted as he raced back and forth on the sidelines. "Demi, GET UP!! Come on, you can beat this shmuck!! He's a no-good shmuck!! Beat him down into the ground!! Go Xena on his ass!! DO SOMETHING!!"

Hicha began to laugh humorlessly as I shakily got back to my feet. "A jolteon, huh? Is that the same one that you defeated? And the dragonair… is she the some one that used slam on me in order to get to you?" He looked at me, his black eyes full of bane and snarled. "Well are they?"

Tai spoke before I did. "What the hell is going on?! Demi, kick his ASS!!"

Again Hicha laughed. " 'Demi'? Is that your nickname? It figures, letting your new human name you. I always thought you were stronger than that, Ayako." (A/N: Doesn't Hicha have a nickname too?)

I flinched. _My name…_

Shayla growled from behind me. "Demi, get back to the others!! Tai! Go and fry that mightyena's butt!!"

Tai raced out in front of me, his fur bristling and blue sparks of electricity cackling in the air around him. Hicha snarled at Tai and growled, "So you have come to defend your comrade? Let me give you a word of advice: She'll turn on you."

Tai's snarl grew louder and more menacing. "Bastard!! NO ONE INSULTS MY TEAM AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!!" At that moment, Shayla and Tai shouted the attack name simultaneously. "**THUNDER!**"

Tai's body lit up with electrical power and his eyes turned darker, as did the rest of the room. I backed away from his in a stunned manner so I wouldn't be hit with any stray bolts. I looked to Hicha, who in turn looked at me. I silently asked what had I done, why was he so vengeful, but he gave me nothing but cold hatred and began to move towards me.

"**I AM YOUR OPPONENT, SCUM!**" Tai screamed in a slightly lower voice. He shot his powerful bolt of lightning at Hicha, and almost immediately the mightyena fainted. He had no hope against Tai. My heart stuttered as Hicha went down in a charged veil of smoke, his burnt flesh and fur alerting my senses and searing the inside of my nose and throat, making me frantic. It was then that Hicha was returned to his poke ball, the other trainer not very happy about losing.

I stood numbly as Tai came towards me, panting ever so slightly. He poked me with his paw and asked, "Hey, Demi, did you suddenly become catatonic? I can't believe I had to save your butt back there…" Then in a lower, softer voice he asked, "Are you okay…?"

I didn't look at him. My gaze was on the polished mahogany wooden floor in front of me, and I intended to keep it there. My mouth began to form words, but they were lost before I could say them. I knew I must have looked like a magikarp out of water, but at the moment, I didn't really care. My only thoughts were of Hicha and why he had reacted to me like that. _What did I do??_

Tai poked me again and jerked me out of my chaotic reverie. "I asked you if you wanted to go outside," he said, a little perturbed at my daydreaming. I stumbled over words again and then resorted to nodding, following him as he walked to the outer decks. I didn't notice the looks that the eevee brothers gave each other, nor the worried expressions that the other pokemon gave me as I walked past. Shayla seemed to know what was going on, since she didn't hinder Tai or me in any way. When the trek to the outer decks was finished, Tai turned to me with an outraged, yet concerned expression.

"What was that back there?!" he shouted. "You could've gotten really hurt! And you know Shayla's short on supplies! Why did you freeze up!? Who was that mightyena anyway?!"

I walked past him to the white metal railing and looked out over the sea, the water dull and dark from the fading sun. Dusk was coming again, and I felt nostalgic for a moment. Then, Tai's question brought me out of my thoughts and I responded with, "Hicha… was a friend. I had met him in the forest when I first came…"

Tai scoffed. "Some friend you have -look at your fur! You have blood all over you! And what's worse is that it's YOURS! Made by his teeth! And you, standing there in a wonderful stupor, didn't even-"

"SHUT UP," I commanded, cutting Tai off. I still wasn't looking at him, for I kept my gaze averted. Right now, it was residing on my right forearm, where, as Tai indicated so tactfully, was a stream of dried blood trailing down the limb. I flexed my paws in vexation, and scowled when Tai sat down beside me, my grim mood reflecting on his face. For a moment, neither of us spoke for the tense silence would make any slightly stupid comment inappropriate. So, for the moment, we both watched dusk fall into night.

"…Ayako…Is that what he called you?" he asked softly. I nodded and he asked why.

"That's my real name," I responded dully, to which he didn't respond at first.

"…Well, I really think that you should be named something more appropriate." At this, he righted himself into a dignified position, sitting on his haunches and looking down at me haughtily. At his comment, my eyebrow raised and he smirked.

"Oh?" I asked, sitting up myself to look him straight in the eye. "And what would that be?"

He cocked his head and said, "I was thinking of something along the lines of Xena or Super Bitch, or even Amazonian Warrior Queen. Those other names suck."

I scoffed. "You seem pretty confident in the name department, Tai. What a strange name, 'Tai'… I wonder why Shayla wanted to name you Sea Bream, Thailand or Party? Maybe that's telling me something." To this, he frowned.

"That's not my full nickname, Amazonian Warrior Queen," he responded, a playful scowl on his yellow face. "My full nickname is 'Taioukami', 'Great Wolf'. Take that."

I chuckled. "Okay, so Thailand is you nick-nickname? Now I get it." I got up and began to walk away, towards the cabin where the others were awaiting our return. Apparently, Tai seemed against to this.

"Wait, where are you going?" he asked, trotting after me. "I need to raid the food table!"

I looked over my good shoulder and made a face. "Well, then go alone. Unless you're afraid of the dark, oh mighty Great Wolf."

Tai frowned and raced up to me, his scowl disappearing suddenly and was replaced with a smirk. "No… I was just looking out for you, Xena. After all, even a savage like you can be afraid of the-"

Tai didn't get to finish his sentence, for I, the savage, threw him over board right then.

When Tai crashed into the water, I looked over the railing and with the moonlight's help, I saw Tai come back up to the surface of the water with a gasp. He wasn't too far away from the decks, but just enough to where he'd have to work to get back up. When he saw me, he frowned. "What was that for?!"

I chuckled. "This savage can take care of herself, thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I'll raid the leftovers. I'm pretty sure they still have some apple cobbler…" With that, I turned and left Tai to struggle with the slippery body of the ferry, when I smelled a scent akin to wet dog. I turned, and a very wet Tai was struggling to get over the railing, a deep scowl on his face. "You shall not have the apple cobbler, Savage!!" he screamed.

I laughed and said, "Even if you somehow stopped me, the cooks would smell you a mile away."

Tai glared. "You saying I smell bad?"

"Only as bad as a wet dog in the summertime," I responded.

The jolteon rolled his eyes as he battled with the slick railing. "Oh, and you always smell like daisies when you're wet."

My head went up. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do."

Tai finally got over the railing and landed with a hard thump on the wooden deck. He shook, his fur becoming missheveled and giving him the appearance of a drowned dog, and walked over to me. "Well, let's find out, shall we?" He then took the scruff of my neck and, with a mighty heave, launched me overboard and into the water. I crashed into the water with only one thought.

"COLD!!" I shouted as I resurfaced, the chilly night air not making the lack of warmth any better. From on deck, Tai smiled and jumped back into the water, spraying me with the freezing liquid. When he came back up, a smirk was on his triumphant face.

"Don't smell so good now, huh?" he asked, spraying me with more water via his paw. I glared at him, and then launched at him, tackling him into the water. And so, our water war began.

Of course, I didn't notice Shayla standing by the railing in the shadows with a smile on her face, and then turned to leave, letting us fight by ourselves.

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Wow… I never thought I would get this done!! YAY!! Oh, shout-out to Princess Kitty1! Of course, go right ahead and use Demi! HUGE SMILE ARIGOTOU GIZAMASU TO EVERYONE WHO LOVES THIS STORY!!

WHEEEEEEEEE!!! It's 11:46 pm and I'm hyper!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

JA.


	5. Lilycove

JELLO!! Wow, so many of you all like this fic!! ::ish proud:: Well, I'm happy. Maybe I should write more pokemon stories… ::shrugs:: Oh well.

Well, Wolfie has now left us. He didn't die, I just gave him back to his original owner. Wonder why? He was terrorizing the poor beta I put in with him. Sheik. With Wolfie now gone, Sheik is having the time of his life. He loves his new tank. - In about a week, we're going to put another fish in there with him, and my mother and I are arguing on whether it should be two guppies or a dojo. I want the dojo.

I also got another beta. This one's so pretty, he's kind of peachish on the face and purple and white on his body. His fins are gorgeous- light blue mixelonger had to obey anyone, and at the fact that rare candies were spouting from the ground. I was in total bliss.

Alas, this did not go on for very long. Suddenly, a pink and yellow machamp came above me, hovering over my head with his little faery wings. "You shall not have the lobotomy!! IT IS MINE!!" he shouted, his four arms in a threatening pose. I glared up to him and snarled.

"Pah! The lobotomy is mine to have! You shall never get it!!" That was when I lunged at him, and tore him apart, his limbs becoming butterflies as soon as they were dismembered. Then, Tai came up and began to dance his own version of the macarena, and I joined.

Of course, that was when he tackled me and said, "Dor very long. Suddenly, a pink and yellow machamp came above me, hovering over my head with his little faery wings. "You shall not have the lobotomy!! IT IS MINE!!" he shouted, his four arms in a threatening pose. I glared up to him and snarled.

"Pah! The lobotomy is mine to have! You shall never get it!!" That was when I lunged at him, and tore him apart, his limbs becoming butterflies as soon as they were dismembered. Then, Tai came up and began to dance his own version of the macarena, and I joined.

Of course, that was when he tackled me and said, "Demi, I'm a moron and breakfast is ready."

I blinked, completely astounded at the fact that he could talk and asked, "What?"

Tai began to shout. "BREAKFAST IS READY!! HURRY UP OR ALL OF THE DOUGHNUTS WILL BE GONE!! I WANT MY JELLY!!"

That was when I sat upright, knocked my head against Saji's and realized that the stuff that had just now happened had been a dream. I shook my wounded head and got the strange dream out of my memory when Saji stood up. "Well, now that you're up, let's go. Tai's been harping over it for at least fifteen minutes and if we don't leave soon, he'll eat through the door and go by himself."

As if to prove Saji's point, I heard Tai begin to shout from the front of the cabin. "I WANT MY JELLY!! GIVE ME FOOD!! FOOD, I SAY!!! **FOOOOOOOD!!!!**"I rolled my eyes and got to my feet, which protested and threatened to return me to the floor. I wasn't supposed to be up yet…

I yawned and followed the sound of Tai's voice to the front door, where everyone else (besides Saji -he was behind me) was waiting. Shayla looked about as tired as I was, and she yawned before she spoke.

"Alright. Now that everyone's here, let's go. Tai, no gorging…" It was then that she opened the door and let Tai the Consumer out into the hallway. Kazu snickered and then used teleport on us all to lead us right to the buffet table. I was rather surprised to see Tai already eating. Shouldn't we have gotten there first?

"Simply amazing…" Shoko the charizard began to say as he went to a roasted animal of some sort. "Kazu didn't use the teleport on Tai. He got here by himself… I just want to know how he does it."

I snickered and let myself go to where the berry pancakes were. I eased my way around Tai, trying not to make any sudden movements lest he try to eat me too. (Even though his food doesn't make sudden movements…) I picked out a nice plate of pecha berry pancakes and stuffed one hurriedly into my face before any humans saw me. (It was the human food table after all…)

Then, I heard a soft, melodious voice beside me. "Is it good?" I turned and saw the ninetails from yesterday. I nodded cautiously, but amiably and scooted over to let her have some room. She smiled back and took her place and picked a chesto berry from a plate and began to eat.

It would be lying to say that I wasn't nervous. She was Hicha's team member after all. He had to have given her some insight on why he seems to hate me so feverently. She must have felt my nervousness because she lifted her head and told me, "You have nothing to fear. I won't judge you on how Cho talks about you."

So he does talk about me… And nastily from the sound of it…Wonderful. I thought grimly. "What… What does he tell you…?"

She smiled sadly. "It seems to him that you abandoned him… I beg your pardon, but what are you called?"

For a moment, I couldn't decide. Use Demi or my real name, Ayako? "Demi," I found myself saying. "Call me Demi."

She smiled and then kept on going. "As I was saying, it seems to him that you abandoned him when you were captured. You always abhorred trainers and their pokemon, so he couldn't understand why you would allow yourself to be captured. I guess he thinks that you wanted to get away from him, or to try and hurt him." With that, she gave a shrug and lowered her bright, crimson eyes. "From what I can tell, he might still hold on to those feelings that he had before you were captured."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Hicha thought that by getting captured, I was ABANDONING him?? What the heck?? I wanted to burst out into an all-out rage, but in front of this ninetails, I couldn't. All I could force out was a quiet, "I… I don't understand… Why would he…"

The ninetails put her glistening golden paw upon mine and smiled comfortingly. "I don't know, I really don't. Men's minds are… quite different from ours… Some are complex, and others are… well…" she looked up to the ceiling as if trying to find the right word. "Simpler… then others… Like your friend jolteon over there." She pointed me in the direction where Tai was gorging himself. He was on the table, head completely submerged in a banana pudding. I couldn't suppress a snicker, for Tai's mind was truly a simple, sad one.

"Although, Demi, I would advise not to stray too near Cho," she said in a more hushed, serious tone. "He might attack you again, even if not by our trainer's orders. I also must tell you that not only does he loathe you for your being captured, he somehow thinks that it is your fault for him being captured."

My eyes nearly came out of their sockets. "WHAT?!? He can't possibly… THAT'S JUST RETARDED!!" By this time, my white fur was standing on end_. How in the world could he blame me for THAT?? I wasn't even… His capture and me are TOTALLY UNRELATED!! _For a moment, I was speechless. "How…?"

The ninetails shrugged sadly. "I don't know… He always talks about you being a bad person… But now that I've gotten a chance to talk to you personally, I don't find you disagreeable at all…" She looked back at me and smiled a genuine smile, not something you see from a ninetails very often.

In that moment, I was touched. I really was. We darklings are never looked lightly upon, especially because we're rather… anti-social. Another reason is because we have no poke-god to pray to and the fact that we're nocturnal. Fire and ice types sometimes venture near, but others tend to stay away. But… this ninetails must truly be a good person… I smiled and asked, "I never heard your name. What is it?"

She seemed to have been surprised at that, but after a moment, she smiled again. "Call me Koka, Demi. I shall try and tell Cho some sense… I hope he will listen." She gave a bow, to which I hastily returned, and left. I watched her rejoin her companion, the pompous wigglytuff, (we exchanged glares) but my view was soon obstructed by Tai's wide yellow posterior.

"Watcha ya' doin'?" he asked in a sing song voice, watching Koka and the wigglytuff go off. "Hey, were you talking to that ninetails?" he asked while turning back to face me. I was relieved that I didn't have the oh-so-flattering and attracting Tai butt staring at me. I scooted myself further away from the Tai butt, but the jolteon didn't seem to notice.

"Well?" he asked, a little impatient. "Did you talk to her or not?"

I half-snarled. People that prodded into my personal affairs so tactlessly got on my nerves. "What's it to you? Why do you care if I talk to other pokemon outside of the team? Is it wrong?"

For a moment, Tai looked struck. He said his next few sentences in a confused, soft voice, an anti-Tai voice. "No… I was just wondering… to see if you got any info about that Hippo guy. You know… to see why he went all psycho on you."

I felt like crap right then. I sighed and then shook my head slowly, and replied, "Tai, it's 'Hicha'…"

He rolled his chocolate-brown eyes. "Hippo, Hicha, same difference. Anyway, did you get any insight on the dude?"

I sighed again letting the subtle insult to my mightyena friend roll. Tai was really trying to find out about Hicha… but why? Why did he care so much? I looked up to him with a suspicious expression and asked as gingerly as I could, "Why do you want to know? It's not like we're going to be battling him again… Or anytime soon for that matter… Why do you care?" I looked at him straight in the eye and waited for his answer.

For a moment he blinked and stared straight back at me. When I thought that he had forgotten the question, he answered, "Well, it seemed important to you. And the guy was going all psycho on you… I just want to make sure the Amazon Warrior Queen doesn't get hurt." He smiled again and then, just when I was about to show gratitude, he asked, "Hey, are you going to eat that?" He pointed to the last pecha berry pancake, and then my rating of him lowered.

"No…" I then scooted the plate to him, and he devoured it swiftly. I sighed and began to walk away while shaking my head.

Men's minds were truly simple ones…

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At long last, the ferry ride was over. I ran down the pier at top speed, right after Kazu and Tai. I think they were the most relieved. They were kissing the ground beneath them when I came over. Actually, Tai was eating the grass.

"Tai, are you sick?" I asked, to which he lifted his head. "Did your stomach finally find its bottom?"

Tai rolled his eyes and, as blades of grass were sputtering out of his mouth, said, "As if. I just love land so much I have to eat it!"

I narrowed my eyes. "You sound like you're selling something."

Tai smiled, revealing pearly white fangs with blades of grass stuck in between them and went right back to eating said grass. I then heard Shoko come up behind me.

"Well, we've finally arrived in Lilycove," the charizard said, making a sweep with his arm. "What do you think?"

I looked at the bustling city. People were going about their own businesses, with smiles on their faces. The forest beyond the city was also bright, welcoming even. I saw a few trainers in the gaps between the trees. The city was well kept, good-looking. I liked it.

I scoffed to hide my true feelings. "I think we shouldn't have taken so long to get here. Besides, it's a city. They all look the same."

Shoko gave me a knowing smile and then went to Shayla, who was saying goodbye to the captain. Shayla patted Shoko's shoulder and waved to the captain once more. "Well, come on, you guys. Let's get going."

I stood where I was for a moment, utterly confused. Why wasn't she putting us in our poke balls? After a moment, a rock bouncing against my head brought me out of my reverie. Tai was lingering, watching me with an amused expression. "You just going to stand there like a catatonic moron or what?"

I frowned and followed the rest. As I caught up with the rest of the team, I went over to the charizard again. "Why are we here?" I asked. "There aren't any gyms here."

Shoko looked down at me. "Shayla has a few friends here that she likes to keep in touch with. Besides, there's a sale at the mall today. She says that she wants to go and get nutrients for us."

I blinked. "Nutrients…?"

Shoko nodded. "You know, like protein, iron, zinc, stuff like that." To that statement, Tai jumped up, proclaiming that he couldn't wait until he got some carbos. Those, apparently, were his favorite.

It was then that I heard a disturbing sound. It sounded like a pokemon's scream, and when I turned, there was a manectric running away from a group of red-robed people. Behind the red-robed people, a green-garbed, blonde young lady was running after them screaming for them to stop. I blinked a couple of times, and was about to go and see what was going on when Amburna flew past me, Shayla right after her.

Shoko came up beside me, flying. I had to run to keep up with him. "What's going on?!" I shouted over the wind. Shoko didn't respond right away.

"No time to explain!" he shouted back, and then flew ahead. Completely befuddled, I looked behind me for my other teammates to see if they would answer my questions. Tai, Kazu and Saji were behind me, also running with all their might. Tai was the only one gaining.

I slowed slightly, letting Tai catch up with me. "What's going on??!" I shouted again.

"That girl ahead of us? She's one of Shayla's best friends, and those people in the red clothes are going after HER manectric!" He then speeded up and then left me to eat his dust. When he wanted to, Tai could sure move…

Saji then appeared beside me, and offered a ride. I graciously accepted, and hopped onto his back where Kazu was also sitting. I could now see Shoko, Amburna, Shayla and Tai in the distance, where they were surrounding the red-clad people. There were four, and they didn't look too happy. The manectric in question was in the middle of the four with something around its mouth. I guessed it stopped all electrical attacks from working, since the manectric wasn't using any electrical attacks.

Saji landed and Kazu and I dismounted. Then the fun began.

"Give me back my manectric!!" the green-clothed girl shouted as she balled her hands into fists. She didn't look too threatening, more like a little girl with a temper tantrum, so that may have been why one of the red-clad people snickered.

"Right, girl. I'll give this dog back to you once we're through with it," one person in the middle said. He was buff, his bulking muscles showing through the sweatshirt-like shirt. He looked in his mid thirties, and his chin had stubble on it. He had in his hand a rubber leash that was attached to the manectric's muzzle, rendering it helpless.

Shayla beckoned Amburna forth. "Either give my friend back her manectric or I send my dragonair on you!" she threatened. Amburna moved out in front of her trainer and summoned rain clouds. Thunder began to rumble, rain began to pour, and Amburna had completed her intimidation act. If I didn't know her, I would be scared out of my wits. An angry dragonair isn't a good one.

The leader of the group began to laugh. "Fine then! A battle it shall be! Then I can shove your weasly little faces in the ground and take your pokemon too!!" He looked among my comrades and his eyes fell on Shoko and Tai. "I wouldn't mind taking those two…"

The charizard and jolteon snarled in response, showing of their pearly fangs. Unfortunately, the man in the red sweatshirt laughed it off and called forth his first pokemon against Amburna.

It was a mightyena. It was tough looking, scarred across its cheek and eyes, and it was snarling even as it came out. It tossed its head and growled at Amburna. She didn't flinch.

Niether did Shayla. "Amburna!! Surf!!"

Amburna twisted her body and then her body glowed a bright blue. The mightyena was too distracted by the light coming from Amburna's body to see the massive tidal wave rising from the sea next to us. It rose up in the air, and then plummeted down on the mightyena. Water rushed past my ankles, and I looked to see if the mightyena had survived such an attack.

Amazingly, it did. It rose up from the small pond with wet and shaking legs, still glaring at Amburna. Amburna rose her head slightly, as if to silently dare the mightyena to attack her.

Finally, the dark dog spoke. "Kyogre-lover …" he whispered. "You think a little water's going to make me faint?" He took a staggering step forward, proving he could still battle. "I'll never fall to a Kyogre-lover like you…"

"Mightyena!" the man roared. "Crunch!!"

The mightyena lunged at Amburna with tremendous energy. However, Amburna easily dodged it by simply moving a part of her body out of the way. The mightyena crashed into the muddy ground, face first. He was to my left, and I watched him get up. He was struggling again, and before he could stand, Shayla ordered out another attack.

"Amburna!!" She roared furiously, "SLAM!"

Amburna glared at the struggling darkling and charged through the air straight towards him. He had turned and faced Amburna, and when she performed her slam attack, he opened his mouth and clamped down hard on her lithe body. She screamed.

"Amburna!!" Shayla yelled, alarmed. "Throw him, Amburna!! Throw him off of you!"

Amburna glared down at her opponent with a ferocity I never thought possible and then flung then mightyena into a nearby building. He landed against the wall with a crash, and then fell to the ground with a sloppy-sounding thump. He did not get back up.

The man glared through the rain and then returned the mightyena back to his poke ball. Amburna returned to her place on the field, now with blood oozing from a spot on her side where the mightyena had bitten her. I moved up beside Shoko and continued to watch.

He sent out an arbok, also scarred and intimidating. I was surprised someone had an arbok in this region, but some of my own comrades had come from the Kanto and Johto regions as well. Amburna flinched at the sight of the arbok, to which she smiled.

"Come now, dearie," the arbok hissed. "Don't be afraid of little me…" She got low to the ground and coiled herself up.

"Arbok!" the man shouted, "Poison sting attack!"

The arbok reared up and, with incredible speed, shot poison darts from her mouth right into Amburna's wound. She screamed again and fell to the ground, unable to keep floating.

Shayla flinched. "Amburna! Come back!" She turned to her left, where Kazu and Saji were standing. "Kazu! Go! Psychic!!"

The espeon ran out in front of Shayla and quickly attacked. His eyes glowed an angry red, and then the arbok was lifted off of the ground high into the sky. With quick movements of his head, Kazu rammed the arbok into walls, trees, and eventually the ground. The arbok did not move.

"Dammit!" the man cursed, and then pulled a red-clad woman from beside him forward. "Help me!"

The woman nodded, and she pulled out her own pokemon, which happened to be an umbreon. The man sent out a torcoal. Shayla glared and then called Kazu back to the sidelines.

"Shoko! Tai! Get in there!!" Shayla roared, to which they obliged. In a matter of minutes, the torcoal and umbreon were fainted at the hands of my comrades. Niether of them were panting, and Shoko was at his peak power, even in the rainstorm Amburna had summoned. It was then that I heard the helicopter.

I looked up and saw the black helicopter hovering above us. There were people looking down upon us -people in red robes. Shayla apparently saw them too, because she ordered Tai to bring them down.

"Alright you bastards!" Tai shouted to the sky, "It's time for you to come down and play with us!!" He sent a bolt of lightning to the helicopter and, in flames of glory, it began to crash. Kazu was then ordered to use psychic to grab all of the passengers. I merely watched all of this with an air of distant awe.

When the helicopter crashed, Shayla turned to the group of four -now turning into seven- and shouted over the howling winds, "Alright! I've had enough of this!! You're beaten, Team Magma! Now give my friend back her manectric! It doesn't even KNOW any electric attacks!! So keep this stupid fight between yourselves and Team Aqua!!"

I blinked and looked at the wet, defeated men and women before me. _This is the "mighty" Team Magma I've heard so much about?_ I thought, perplexed. I had heard that they were great warriors, wanting to awaken the great poke god Groudon and widen the landmass. I of course thought it was bogus, that it was just a publicity stunt to get land pokemon into the hands of more trainers. Apparently, I was wrong.

The leader of the Magma guffawed, even though all of his pokemon were spent. "I'm afraid I can't, little lady. Because you see, we need your friend's pokemon. And if it can't use any electric attacks, then we'll just take your jolteon as well. Hell, I'd gladly take all of your pokemon off your hands…"

He then locked eyes with me, and when his gaze turned to hungry, my instincts went nuts. I HAD to get away from this guy.

Shayla scoffed, and tossed a pecha and sitrus berry to Amburna. "There is no way I'd let you lay one of your grimy hands on my pokemon, you filth."

The man smiled and replied, "Guess I'll just have to take them."

A sound alerted my ears. The familiar sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air. But this time, it was different. It was a murky sound, like more than one. I looked up and saw at least thirty helicopters swirling above us, and then that was when the tranquilizers rained down upon us.

Shoko was hit first, in the lower neck. He let out a roar, and fell to the ground, unconscious. Shayla ran to him, but a Magma woman came up behind her and hit her in the back of the head with a metal rod. Kazu and Saji went nuts, but the espeon was quickly done in by a tranquilizer. Tai didn't see this because he was too busy dodging darts and shocking the shooters of said darts. Amburna was out as well, a dart had hit her when she had tried to use dragon rage.

I myself was trying to avoid the darts when I saw a dewgong appear. At first I was wondering why they would send out a dewgong, but then it hit me. Saji's steel body rendered the tranqs useless. So… they were trying to…

"Saji!!" I heard myself yell. "WATCH OUT!! THERE'S A DEWGONG-"

Saji turned and saw the dewgong but not fast enough to get away from the ice beam. It hit him full in the abdomen, and ice began to form on his body. After a few seconds, Saji was completely encased in a pillar of ice.

Tai did, however, see this. "BASTARD!!" he screamed at the dewgong, and used thunderbolt on the water-type. However, since he was no longer shooting electricity, the Magma members saw an opening and shot Tai in the upper back, in between his shoulder blades.

When I saw Tai go down, something snapped. I looked up to the helicopters flying above me and began to shoot my own electricity out at them. They were lower now -probably trying to get close enough to pick up my teammates. I was not going to let that happen.

The leader of the Magma came to my side, and before I could react, shot a dart into my neck. I fell onto the ground on my good side, feeling limp and numb. My muscles twitched and tried to fight the serum that was now flowing through my veins. The man stood over me, a triumphant look on his face.

"An absol that can use thunderbolt… The boss will love to see you again…"

He raised his foot above me and brought it down upon my skull, to which I felt pain, and then nothing at all.

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Well! That was a mighty long chapter!! ::big smile:: Sorry about the cliffhanger, I had to! But don't worry, I'll try and update soon! Now press that review button down there and tell me how you feel!!

Ja!


	6. Calm Before the Storm

****

The following is a eulogy for the recent dearly departed beta, Skye. If you don't want to read it, then skip down to the story. I'm sorry, I have to say this somehow.

Well, it's about 6:00 am on a cold Friday morning, November 5, 2004. I have just buried Skye, my little beta of different colors. The thing is… I don't know what happened to him. He didn't have a disease (that I know of) but I think… I think he broke his neck… his head was at a weird angle, and he was lying on the rocks, not floating up to the top. I thought he was being weird, but when I took him out of the tank, he didn't flail.

As for why I'm telling you all of this without shedding a tear, I don't know. My fingers are affected, I can barely type without typos, and I got teary eyed whenever I buried Skye in the dark, but I'm not getting emotional. I hope I didn't dig another grave up when I buried him… They're so close together and damn near impossible to see in the dark.

So, in light of Skye's death, I wish to make a eulogy. (If you don't care, then go ahead to the story).

Skye was a lively fish. He really was. And he was the only fish I could play with. When he wanted to play, he'd come up to the front of the tank and stare at me for a little bit. And then I would run my fingers across the front and back of the tank and he'd chase them. Heh heh… Lord, he was a really weird fish…

He's also the only beta of mine that hasn't been red. He was so pretty… Blue, white, purple, and a cute little peach face. And he was so timid at first… He was even scared of the little plecko Joe when I first brought him home…

I hope he's okay now. I sincerely hope that he is in his little fishy heaven, and that he'll have fun up there. I love you, Skye. I really do. And I like to think that you liked me. I tried to give you a good home, and I hope you appreciate that. I won't forget you, or any other fish that lives within the walls of my home -ever. Not you, or Squishy, or Dave, or the twins, or Wolfie, or Joe, or Sheik, or Fred -not anyone. My room will seem so lifeless and gray without your little self to brighten up my room with your bright personality and colors.

I feel guilty that you never experienced a big, 5 gallon tank like Squishy, Sheik, and Fred have. You loved your little one gallon, and I couldn't wait to get the new 10 gallon up and running so I could give you more of an open space feel. That little one gallon just didn't suit you. You needed more.

So… Bye-bye, Skye-babe. I love you.

Disclaimer: I own all of the nicknames, personalities and Shayla. Everything else is not mine and belongs to the media. This chapter is dedicated to Skye.

Oh… And it's a little… er… violent in the beginning.

**__**

In memory of Skye…

Price for Freedom

Chapter 6

Calm Before the Storm

__

"'C'mon you lousy excuse for a pokemon!" I heard Master shout. "Hit that alakazam with your bite!!"

I panted and rushed forward, my legs almost giving out each step I took. I never knew a psychic pokemon that could defeat a dark type, but I was at least twenty levels below this one. And he knew attacks that weren't psychic type attacks. Strong ones. But I had to defeat him, because Master told me to. I had to accomplish this for Master.

With desperation and adrenaline on my side, I lunged at the powerful psychic and bit his shoulder, to which he screamed and fainted. And when he fell to the ground before me, something dawned.

I had defeated a pokemon almost twice my level!

I began to jump for joy when Master called me back over. I did, and looked up to perhaps finally see pride and happiness in those perfect blue eyes of his, to finally see that I had done something right for Master, for that was my sole purpose in life. But my smile faded when all I saw was his usual frown.

"You barely won that battle, Absol," he muttered in a condescending tone. "Why do I even spend time trying to get you stronger?" My hopes and five-second dreams shattered spontaneously, and my black webbed tail stopped furiously wagging. Unfortunately, he continued. "You are the biggest waste of my time. Nidoking never gave me this much trouble, and niether did venusaur. In fact, all of my pokemon have been competent enough to be able to defeat another pokemon with such a large type disadvantage." He then pulled out something I dreaded -his whip. He wasn't a tamer, but he was close.

The trainer with the alakazam came up to Master with a large wad of cash in his hands. "Man, that was a fight to remember! I'll be sure to steer clear of absols from now on…" The other trainer noticed Master's whip. "Dude, what's that for?"

Master scoffed and ran a perfect hand through his perfect hair. "I'm going to train this absol some more, it still sucks. It could have been defeated easily if you hadn't gone easy on me."

My eyes went to the ground. I had disappointed Master again. I deserved to be whipped. Even though red wounds littered my white fur, I did not pay heed to them. Master would want me to sustain them until we came across a Poke Center, or maybe after that. Master said that it built character.

The trainer talking to Master shook his head. "Well… My alakazam was almost twenty levels above your absol… I'd say it's plenty strong. If you don't want it, I'll take it."

The mere thought that Master might get rid of me was terrifying in itself. I jerked my head suddenly to look at Master, see what he would do. He contemplated it for what seemed like forever, and then, to my relief, shook his perfect head.

"Naw… I'll keep it for a little while longer, see if it actually becomes strong. A guy in the Elite Four has an absol, so it must be worth while." He then looked at me with his perfect blue eyes, and smiled. I smiled back, completely oblivious.

Time went in fast forward, and suddenly, I was outside, and it was raining relentlessly. Master held the whip in his hands, and he called out my comrade, his nidoking. My mind screamed. I knew what was about to happen. My feet wouldn't move, and I stood there dumbly while Master ordered nidoking to hold me down, with my stomach facing upward. Master was mad at me for ruining his trade. He had almost gotten a pidgeot, an acceptionally strong one, in exchange for me, but I popped out of my poke ball and wouldn't leave Master. I couldn't leave Master. And now I was being punished.

Master scowled angrily at me through the rain. "Now you get your punishment, you fucking bitch." He raised his whip, and brought it down upon me.

I don't know how long he did it. All that remains in my memory is nidoking whispering his apologies to me as lash after lash came down upon my exposed stomach. After his whip had gone through enough skin, he crouched down and began to peel my furry skin off of my muscles. He laughed while I tried to writhe in pain.

And I could not defend myself, for this was Master, and Master was doing what was right. Master wasn't wrong for punishing me. I had been bad and I had to take my punishment, or else I'd be bad and Master would hate me more. Master was never wrong…

And he peeled off little strands of my muscles, laughing at my pain. And I loved him for it.

I was glad.

I sat up abruptly, and my head clashed with something metal. The black scythe on my head began to throb, and the rest of my body began to twitch. I had no idea why -a knock to the head shouldn't have done that to me. Then, a flash of the Magma man popped into my head and I realized what was going on. So the tranquilizer they stuck in me was wearing off…

I stared down at my black, clawed feet and processed the fact that they were in shackles. Strong ones, from the look of them. I gave a grim sigh and began to chew at the chains when the sound of human footsteps and voices. I immediately lay back down to appear that I was sleeping, lest they think I was listening.

At first, I couldn't really hear them. There were two voices, one a burlesque male and the other a furtive female. The male spoke first, although I didn't quite understand what he was saying in the beginning. "…Grou… get… ov… world. Kyog… T… Aq… r…. …est..y… fa… Kai… …ken, then… …ld."

The two then passed my cage and then paused. The woman spoke. "Of course. Kaiyou is a major step for us. Team Rocket may have had their slip with Mewtwo, but they were ignorant and stupid. And since we have their database, we can learn from their mistakes. WE will control Kaiyou and then WE **WILL** awaken Groudon. If Kaiyou fails, then Team Aqua wins. Kaiyou is essential to our plans."

__

…Kaiyou…? my mind wondered. What the heck was a Kaiyou? I had heard about the attempt to make a Mew clone, but I thought that was urban myth. Then there really WAS a mad, psycho Mew-thing out to kill everything? Or had he really been appeased? _Oh, Lugia, don't let this Kaiyou thing be very powerful…_

I heard the woman's high heels begin to clop towards me, meaning she was coming towards the man. "Kaiyou can NOT get out of hand, do you hear me, Ton?" she asked firmly. "I do NOT want another Mewtwo project. We need to assemble as many well-trained fighting pokemon as we can so that if Kaiyou does go wild, we can stop it. If this fails, then it's MY head, and then yours. Understand?"

The man named Ton gulped and then responded, "Yes, ma'am."

I opened my eyes slightly, to see these two. Why had the woman ordered for fighting pokemon? Was this Kaiyou thing ice? More than likely. Or maybe it was a rock type? Apparently, I had opened my eye to where it was noticeable because the man leaned down and stared at me.

"This absol's strong," he commented, his black eyes boring through me. "She's a good fighter, I can tell. Might even be able to beat the crap out of my own primeape."

The woman scoffed. "The only reason pokemon are strong and good fighters are because of their trainers. The absol itself probably can't fight worth a crap without a trainer behind her." My fur bristled. The bitch was saying that I was a complete simpleton! That I wasn't even sentient!!! I began to growl at her and then man began to laugh good-naturedly.

"I doubt that. She's a fighter, that's for sure. I owned an absol once. And even though he was always sickly and eventually died from a disease that he caught, he was one of my best pokemon. He was still such a good pokemon, so friendly and so powerful. Almost makes me wish I were a dark trainer. But I love fighting too much."

The woman scoffed. "I didn't want your teary story, Ton. Now get back to work on Kaiyou or else I'll be feeding YOU to that absol." After that, she clopped away like the cow that she was.

Apparently, my loathing for the cow woman was showing, because the man reached in my cage and smoothed my ruffled fur down. "Don't let her get to you," he said softly. "She's a bitch, but she's alright. Doesn't care much for pokemon, though. Just power. Just keep cool and you'll be alright, Little Miss." He patted my head once, scratched the spot behind my scythe and then left.

I was confused. I had thought that Team Magma was the equivalent to Team Rocket; but apparently, Team Magma actually gets along with pokemon. It was probably because I was a land-dweller, but still.

My mind went back to this Kaiyou thing they were talking about. From what they said earlier, it was essential to their plan of raising Groudon. Now, it was no real secret that awakening Groudon was their plan, it was that no one knew how they were going to do it. Something clicked.

If they were using the data that they got from the Mewtwo project back on Kanto, then they were cloning something to get Kaiyou…

Was it the legendary dogs? None of them had a weakness to fighting. The birds? No… The cow woman said they needed fighting type. No trainer in their right mind would put even an army of fighting types against a cloned, flying legendary. So… what then?

A moan to my right brought me out of my frenzy reverie and I looked through the bars to see Saji. My heart leapt with joy at the sight of the scizor. How could I not see him there? I shook off the question and went to the side of my cage and gently nudged him through the bars. "Saji! Saji!"

He stirred to my proddings, but did not wake up. Slightly frustrated, I sent a small flamethrower at his insect bum, to which he properly responded.

"GYAA!!" he cried, frantically trying to get away from the flame. Of course, he was chained, so he didn't get far. He slammed back to the ground with a mighty thud, and I had to suppress a large urge to burst out laughing. He groggily looked at me, and then stared for a while.

I rolled my eyes. Apparently, he forgot who I was. "It's me, Demi, you retard," I whispered. "Can you break out of these shackles?"

He regarded me like I was crazy, then looked down, and to his surprise, found the shackles I had mentioned. He gave a goofy grin and then turned back to me and said in a low, giggling whisper, "He hee… I have shackles on my claws…!" He began to giggle again, and I stood beside him, mouth agape.

"I can get them off," said a voice beside me. I looked to see a glowing umbreon staring at me with his large, red eyes through the bars of the cages. To tell the truth, it was a little creepy.

I watched in amazement as he retreated into shadows, then came back out on my side of the cage. I had seen darklings do this before, so I wasn't all that surprised, but I figured he had to be insanely strong. Only experienced darks can melt into shadow.

"Can you do it?" he asked me. I didn't really know -I had never tried. So, to make things faster, I shook my head. He merely stared back at me, and then softly said, "Use flamethrower on your chains, and then use slash. They will break off. While you do that, I will go free the others. When you are free, do not attempt to break free of your cage, lest you want to be put into a higher security cage."

I watched him as he melted back into the wall, and then came up in Saji's cage, and instructed him on how to break free of his shackles. I shrugged and then began to work on my shackles.

------

The only pokemon that were awake were now free of their shackles but now restricted to their cages. I had seen Shoko and Tai pacing in their cages, but Amburna was still asleep and badly wounded. I had no idea where Kazu was.

I had found out that there were at least 700 pokemon in the cages around us, in a line against the wall, and stacked on top of other cages. And, from what I heard, all 700 pokemon were at least level 50. I wanted to know how they contained so many.

I began to pace. The Kaiyou thing was still lurking in my mind. What was it? What type was it? How big was it? So many questions ran through my head, and my feet responded to the speed of my thoughts. Soon, the umbreon from before appeared right in front of me, only upside-down.

"Gah!!" I yelped, stopping dead in my tracks. After I gathered my scattered wits, I looked up to his upside-down head. "What is it…?"

He dropped off of the ceiling on to his feet, and looked at me with that piercing stare of his. "Since you are the only other competent dark here, I wish for you to accompany me."

I was speechless. "Um… Okay… Sure, I'll help," I replied in a dumbfound manner. I inwardly berated myself for acting so stupid. He smiled at me and then bowed slightly.

"Others call me Eclipse, Lady Ayako," he said as he came up from his bow. He shook his head when I was about to demand how he got my name. My REAL name.

"I asked your friend over there," he explained nonchalantly, tossing his head slightly towards the direction of Tai, who seemed to be glaring at something in our direction. I assumed he was glaring at me, so I made a face at him. Eclipse saw this, and shook his head.

"He is not glaring at you, Lady Ayako," he said softly. "He is glaring at me."

I was confused by that. "But why is he glaring at you?"

Eclipse looked at me, his dark, ringed face slightly bemused. "Can you not see it?"

I blinked, and he took that for a no. He shook his glowing head and then said, "No time for explanations. It's almost here. We must act fast. I will get certain pokemon that would be helpful to the plan, including a flygon. You may retrieve whom you like. I suggest leaving your espeon friend behind."

He melted into the ground, and I stared at the place where he last stood. Now why didn't he want Kazu coming along? And how did he know that I knew an espeon to begin with…? I shook my head and then collected the names and faces of those that I would gather. Tai, Shoko, Saji, a salamence that I saw, a milotic, and a gyarados would do nicely. But when I was about to spring from my cell, a voice echoed inside my head.

__

Don't use a door. Use the shadows. Doors will betray you to unfriendly eyes. Shadows are true. Do not fear the Void, Ayako. Your Dark element will guide you. 

I blinked and then thought against breaking out. I turned to the shadowy wall behind me, and a wave of mixed feelings rushed through me. I glared at the wall, and then plunged into the shadows.

-----

The Void was creepy. No ground, no sky, no anything. Just dark. I turned my body ina certain direction, and then felt pulled towards it. I went ahead and followed it, and then sprung into the space beside Tai.

"WAH!!" he cried, sending stray sparks of electricity flying every where. He was on his feet, leaning on the far side of his cage, the place furthest away from me. After he realized who I was, he settled down a little bit.

"Man, I thought you were that umbreon guy again," he muttered lowly. At his tone, my brow cocked.

"Do I detect a tone of loathing towards the umbreon in question?" I asked, getting closer to him. He snarled and walked away from me again.

"No," he replied in the same manner, and then plopped back down on the steel floor. I frowned and then came up behind him.

"Why are you like this?" I asked, seriously perturbed. "He's only trying to get us out and you treat him like this behind his back? What's wrong with you?"

He turned slightly, just to the point where I could make out a glare on his face. "I just… don't like him. Is there anything wrong with that?"

The way he said the last sentence ticked me off. "Yeah, there is," I replied tersely, earning a weird look from the jolteon. "I'm not liking the way your treating an allay like this! It's wrong! Would you ever treat Shoko or Amburna like this?"

Tai scoffed. "You don't even know what an umbreon is capable of. He could pull you into that Void and then make you get stuck there. You'd die, and I wouldn't be able to help you." After a moment of tense silence, (which included me trying to find all of the hidden meanings in his speech) he stood up, turned around and then said, "So what does that bastard want you to do?"

-------------------

We had made our way throughout the whole complex, my team including Shoko, Tai, Saji, Kazu, (to which Eclipse strongly disapproved of, but Tai told him to "shove it"), the gyarados, (named Tempest), the milotic, (named Shiro), and the salamence (named Thor). Eclipse had brought only a flygon, Skye, and a golduck, Kappa. We had silenced all of the Magma members that we had run across, and disabled all of the security cameras. Now Eclipse was leading us to the center of the building, where I could fee a great aura begin to surround us.

The aura made me jittery, nervous. Tai noticed it, and then began to take more caution of our surroundings. Other than that, no one seemed to notice, save for Kazu, and he seemed to be becoming tired. How could no one sense this huge presence?

Eclipse flashed his golden rings in a signal to stop. We obliged, and waited for a command. He gave an undefined look to me, and then began to walk very slowly. I then heard his voice in my head again.

__

Tell the others to wait here. They might not feel anything now, but they will when he awakens. Especially the espeon, he could die. They need to stay somewhere at a safe distance away from the large tube -you see it, right? 

I didn't know if I could send telepathic thoughts -that was left to the psychics. But I went ahead and tried. Amazingly, it worked.

__

Yeah… Yeah, I see it. But why? What's in that test tube?

I felt a slight shudder in Eclipse's response. _ Kaiyou. _

I scoffed. _Well, yeah. But what IS Kaiyou? Is he emitting the aura?_

Yes. It proves how powerful he is. Come now, it's happening. Although, don't reveal yourself when you see him. 

Who? Kaiyou?

No… Another. You will see. Just come closer. 

I began to crawl closer to where Eclipse was positioned, when Tai stopped me.

"What do you think you're DOING?" he whispered harshly. He stepped on my paw in order to stop me. I pulled my clawed paw away and frowned.

"I'm going to get a better look. Now, you and the others keep over here, Eclipse says that it'll be bad if you all get too close. Especially Kazu, he could get killed."

Tai didn't take heed to my warning. "Of course he would tell you that! He's trying to get you secluded where you'll be alone and vulnerable! He's trying to-"

I pushed him away and went back on my way. I heard Tai grunt with frustration and he began to corral everyone back. I smiled. It seemed that the jolteon was useful after all.

I joined Eclipse's side to his right and he nodded his head towards the tube. I almost lost my jaw to the floor.

Kaiyou was magnificent. The length of his body was at least twenty feet nose to tail. His body was jet black, with deep golden stripes adorning his fur. His face was the same, except there were two stripes coming from the front corner of his eye and then swept back almost to his ears. The ears themselves were about a third the length of his body. They were black, except for the last quarter, and that part was the same golden hue as the stripes. He was positioned almost standing on his haunches in order to fit in the tube.

I was about to comment on Kaiyou when a deep, familiar, masculine voice interrupted me. I turned to my left, where the sound emanated from. I couldn't see who it was at first, but I dreaded that the feeling from the pit of my stomach was right.

"At last, my comrades, we have finished it. The key to awakening -and controlling Groudon. Let Team Rocket fiddle with their Tinker Toys, let Team Aqua daydream about Kyogre. For today, we have accomplished the one thing people claimed we could not. We have created the most powerful pokemon -it could bring the greatest Legendaries to their knees, even the great Mewtwo himself." He then came into my line of sight, and I almost retched.

My former trainer surveyed the room, soaking all of the approving faces in like a dry sponge. His quaint smile grew to ambitious, and he turned his back on me to face Kaiyou in the tube. "My friends, we have created the first Dark Legendary, Kaiyou."

I didn't want to hear the rest of his words. I had heard enough. Eclipse's warning was thrown out the window when he turned and looked straight at me. And then, he sneered.

I lunged.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Woot!! I finished!! Yay for me! :) Yay for Pres. Bush, who just got a second term!

Sorry the update took so long. I was busy.

P.S. I am now the proud owner of a lvl. 42 Milotic. ::huge smile::

Ja!


	7. Patterns

Hi! And again so soon! I'm being really good... :)

Well, I now have another beta by the name of Rain. He's a really pretty blue, with crimson mixed in in random places on his fins. He's so pretty. I miss Skye.

I now have.... ::thinks:: 4 milotic, and as for good level pokemon, my strongest is a level 88 absol. Knows bite, thunderbolt, ice beam, and arial ace. Booya.

Enjoy the chap.

Disclaimer: I own all names, personas, Shayla, Evil leader of Team Magma, and Kaiyou. If you want to sue me, know that it won't be worth the trouble.

**_Price For Freedom_**

**_Chapter 7_**

**_Patterns_**

I never knew how much I truly hated his face -the one I had admired for years- until I saw that sneer on his older face.

I lunged.

I jumped through the air, claws outstretched, teeth bared. I wanted to taste his hot blood on my tongue, the same way he had felt mine on his hands. I wanted to tear his skin from his muscles like he had done to me so many times before. I wanted to sink my teeth and claws into his body and rip him apart.

He was surprised. I guessed he didn't quite expect me to grow a brain for my own and learn that what he did to me was wrong. So he didn't have much defense against my attack once he realized I wasn't jumping into his arms to become his lap dog again.

My claws dug into the flesh beneath his neck, and above his collarbone. He screamed in pain, and then glared up at me. His hand reached for his side, where my former comrades waited, but I stopped that movement with a thunderbolt.

I heard a gun cocking to my left, but I didn't want to move. I had been dreaming about this day for the whole time I had been left behind -seven years. I didn't want to leave this spot. Not until I saw Death take his life.

I then felt something furry and spiky ram into my right side, pushing me off of my former trainer. I skidded across the slick tile floor, and lifted my own head to see Tai's. "Get off of me!!" I roared, to which he looked up to me and snarled.

"The hell do you think you're DOING?!" he shouted while raising his fur to become actual spikes. "That dude was about to shoot you!"

BAM!!

A bullet flew over my head, and sunk into the wall behind me. Tai pushed me up, and ran over to a nearby overhang, which would shelter him from the bullets. I saw him run to the overhang, but I looked back to my former trainer. He was getting up! NO!!

I began to run back to finish my job -to kill the man that stood before me. But the jolteon had other plans. He grabbed my black, webbed tail and began pulling me towards the overhang. He could see the guns being cocked.

Unfortunately for him, Tai's little paws didn't have the traction on the slick floor like my claws did. I began to run forwards, despite the jolteon weighing me down, when something black and gold rushed up from the ground and hit me, sending Tai and me into the Void.

-----

I looked around to see the same blackness that was the Void. I cursed and began to go back to the real world when Eclipse stopped me.

"I told you not to reveal yourself once you saw him," he scolded, glaring at me with his red eyes. "How could you lose your control like that?"

I noticed I was panting. I closed my mouth and swallowed in an effort to regain control of my breathing. I glared back at the umbreon. "You don't understand. You've never been in that kind of situation. Where you've been tortured and mutilated by your Master, and then, after so many years of mental abuse, you see him and-"

"Oh, be quiet," Eclipse interrupted in a cynical tone I had never heard from him. "Of course I know. I've had five trainers. Each one was worst than the last. I ran away from my last one. Of course I despise them all. They were horrible humans, and they deserve to die, according to my accounts. But I have never, upon meeting, have tried to kill them."

He shook his head. "You don't act like a Dark, Ayako. Otherwise, you would have seen that there was another choice you could have made."

I glared. "What do you mean?"

He looked at me. "So many pokemon believe that their trainers are their best friends. Some have the fortune of being correct. Others are living in a lie. And those pokemon who do get abandoned or traded believe that, upon meeting their former trainer, the human must either be killed or worshipped.

"But no one ever sees the other choice. Just walk away. That's what I've done with all of my other trainers, even the one that set me on fire four times. It is not my choice to decide their fate, only the beings higher up in the hierarchy. If I were to decide their fate for them, the Pattern would be disturbed."

I cocked my eyebrow. "Pattern?"

He nodded. "Dark pokemon have the gift of seeing the Pattern. It is the strings of Destiny and Fate that link everyone and everything together. The psychics have a partial understanding of the Pattern, but Darks are the only ones who can accurately predict the outcome of a certain event, given they are not too involved with the event in question.

"Which leads me to my next point -you cannot kill your trainer. Not yet. We must wait until the Pattern no longer uses him in the Design."

I growled. I was already confused by the fact that he was telling me of something ancient and powerful, something I was supposed to be able to see and use (yet I didn't think I could) and now he was telling me I couldn't kill my former trainer until the "Pattern" thing no longer used him. Eclipse growled softly to get my attention.

"Remember, you are not a deity. You do not have the right to decide which humans deserve life and which deserve death. Do not mistake yourself for something greater than what you really are. Yes, your trainer abused you. Yes, it is ethically wrong. But, there is nothing you can do about it now. Trying to get revenge for what happened so many years ago is the equivalent to taking poison and waiting for your former trainer to die."

That shut me up and forced me to think. Why had I attacked him? _Well, duh, because I hate him. _But why couldn't I just walk away? What was I trying to prove? That I had become independent of him and no longer thought he was a god? Or maybe…

"Hey, Xena? Can we leave?"

I looked behind me to see Tai darting his head about, obviously scared out of his wits. He was gulping about every five seconds, and was shaking. He slowly made his way to my side, and then glared at Eclipse.

"Hey, Socrates, are you done yet? I want to get the hell out of here," the jolteon demanded, while simultaneously trying to look intimidating while being scared witless.

Eclipse merely smiled. "Are you afraid, Jolteon?"

A shaky "No" came from Tai. Eclipse's smile remained and then turned to his side, where he poked the Shadow, and a swirling vortex appeared.

"This will lead to the overhang," Eclipse explained. "You first, Thunder Dog."

Tai glared at the umbreon and then made his way slowly to the portal, where he glanced at me for reassurance. I gave him my "You're-being-a-retard-for-being-scared-of-that" look and he rolled his eyes in response. He then jumped in and disappeared.

I made my way to the portal when Eclipse began to speak.

"I must tell you…" he began softly, "…that if you continue on this path, it will lead you to more pain than ever."

Since he was to my left side, I turned to face him, completely astounded and appalled of what I had just heard. "What?" I asked of him, and he turned to open a different portal.

"The path that you are on now," he repeated, as if that would clarify everything. "There are two fates of which I cannot see… It is too clouded. Too uncertain. There are too many variables that could change… but one thing I am certain. There is one line that ends abruptly. One life that will cease to exist -and it will be someone close to you." He stared at me. "I believe you already know this, don't you?"

I snarled. "What are you talking about? I don't know any of this Fate crap."

He smiled knowingly. "It's in your blood to know. You're an absol. Even if you shun your Dark element to full capacity, you would still be able to sense when natural disasters are coming. Especially since you're so strong. You've been feeling the little ripples, haven't you? The little quivers in the atmosphere that always indicates that something is going to happen. Something bad. You know it, don't feign ignorance."

I began to walk towards him slowly. My facial expression matched my mistrust of this "Pattern". "And who, exactly, is involved in this little 'mishap' that's supposed to happen, hm?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't mock me. You know I speak the truth. But I guess you would see the Pattern a little better if you relied more on your Dark element than smothering yourself with lies and deceits. You shun your Dark element. Why? Is it because you believe you're evil?"

I jumped and tried to catch him in my claws, but he disappeared before I even landed. He reappeared behind me. "There's no way that you could catch me that way. The Void is the center of Dark and Shadow. Normal or any other type attacks simply won't work. Now, if you don't mind, I must leave."

I couldn't help jumping in front of him. "And where do you think you're going?!" I yelled, angry at the fact that he wouldn't shut up about the fact that I rely more on Fire and Ice attacks than Dark. "Aren't you going to help the others with Kaiyou?!"

He disappeared and then reappeared by the most recently opened portal. "No," he replied. "That would upset the balance. My part is done. Now, go back to your Jolteon friend, he's on the verge of chaos. He doesn't trust me. Especially alone with you." And with that, he leapt through the portal and left me alone in the Void.

I sighed and then turned to my own portal, which was swirling lethargically. I shrugged and then leapt through it, not eager to find out what was on the other side.

---

Tai, as Eclipse told me, was going insane. He was shouting when I stepped through the wall, and when he saw me, he tackled me.

"The HELL have you been?!" he shouted, standing above me as I tried to get back up. "I thought that stupid Umbreon -Eggplant or whatever his name was-"

"Eclipse," I muttered.

"…Whatever," Tai said dismissively. "I thought he had done something to you because I had told you that he could trap you in that freaky Void thing and-"

"Shut up, Tai," I muttered again. I had just been struck with a large headache. "Your voice is annoying me."

He gawked at me. "Well, that was rude," he commented, and then came over to my side. "Does Xena have a headache?" he asked in a baby-talk voice, to which I merely glared at him.

I then felt something. Like a pulse. I lifted my head and scanned the room, to find everyone was standing still and listening to my former trainer talk. Tai was about to say something, but I hit him in time to shut him up so I could hear what the human had to say.

"And now, with no further delay, I present to you, the key to Groudon's awakening and our triumph over Aqua. Kaiyou! AWAKEN!!"

I trotted out to the floor and saw the great beast give a mighty spasm when my former trainer pulled a lever, which made a nearby Raichu begin to perform a thunder. The electricity was channeled by two wires connected to the Raichu's cheeks, which ran into the tube and ended at Kaiyou's heart. My eyes were glued to Kaiyou, because, for some reason, I couldn't take my attention away from him.

My former master gave a signal and the Raichu stopped the electrical flow. The room was silent.

Kaiyou opened his eyes.

-------------------

Well, that's it! Hopefully I'll be able to update more often.

And why can't you get Lugia on FireRed or LeafGreen? Why….


	8. A Predicament

Hello! I'm happy that so many of you care about Tai, it says that ya'll love him as much as I do. As for using my names on your games -go ahead! I don't mind. I do that. I also named my little jolteon Tai -it suits him perfectly. (He has a quirky nature) ::smile:: Though, I don't know the fates of any pokemon yet -save for Kaiyou. Tai might die, or maybe someone else. Who knows? I could work it to Demi's advantage and kill the evil trainer man. Maybe. ::smile::

As for the whole "Pattern" thing, I realize that it might have been a little… deep… for some of you. Not that I'm calling you morons, but I will have little explanations about it throughout the fic and maybe that'll help ya'll understand it a little better. I have to say myself, it is a tad… abstract and vague. But I'm sure ya'll will get it sooner or later.

Disclaimer: all names, personas, the evil trainer man, Kaiyou and Shayla belong to me. Don't sue me, for it will not be worth the trouble.

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 8

A Predicament

Kaiyou opened his eyes.

"Holy shit," Tai whispered. I agreed.

The Dark clone's great head lifted a little, and he surveyed the room with his deep, crimson eyes. Again, I found that I could not tear my gaze away from him. Then, he discovered that there was glass encasing him and then, with a mighty wave of energy, shattered it to pieces.

The wave forced its way through all of our bodies, and from what I could tell, it was painful for everyone, save for me. What little damage had been done to me was gone, and I felt more powerful than ever.

But that was when Kazu screamed.

"KAZU!!" Tai yelled, and turned in the direction of his brother.

The jolteon, without a second thought, ran to the entrance hall where the other pokemon were staying. I watched with an air of aloofness as Tai ran to his younger brother and began to try and drag the bleeding espeon away from Kaiyou. The jolteon looked at me for a minute, as if he was silently asking for my help, but I didn't move. I couldn't move. He glared at me and continued in his work.

I saw Kazu. He had blood all over his body, mostly around the jewel on his head and his side, where I would later find out that that was an old scar from a kabutops's scythe when the espeon was very young. Tai had told me it would never completely heal, and that spot was a weak point in his furry purple hide.

I wanted to help him. But I couldn't move. Against my will, my head turned towards the Dark Legendary. He was standing on all fours, staring at me. When we made eye contact, he gave the slightest of nods, and then turned back to the humans who were congratulating themselves.

My former trainer began to speak. "You see his power?! You see how he makes the pokemon retreat from his mere AURA?! He is the greatest pokemon that ever existed, better than Mewtwo, better then Celebi, better even, than Lugia HIMSELF! He will be the ticket to our reign of-"

Suddenly, he stopped short. His body was bent backwards a little, as if something was pushing him down. He began to make choking noises, and started have convulsions all over his body. I looked up to the new legendary to see his deep crimson eyes glow a deathly bright red.

Then, Kaiyou spoke. **(You think I will bend to your will, human? Do you really think that I, a new Legendary, will disgrace myself in following your little scheme when I know what will happen if I do? Groudon must NOT be awoken. Niether should Kyogre. These two Titans should remain dormant, until the right time comes. Not now. Not until the Earth needs to renew itself.)**

Kaiyou's hold on the human broke, and my former trainer fell to the floor with an unnatural thump. Kaiyou then looked to me, and I found myself walking towards him, and stopped at his side. Shoko saw this, and became infuriated for some reason.

"Demi!" he cried, "Get away from him! You don't know what he can do! He's almost killed Kazu! GET AWAY FROM HIM!!"

Kaiyou half snarled. **(What do you take me for, dragon? An insane murderer given new powers? I will not hurt her. She acts like this because I am a Dark deity, to be quite frank. You would do the same for Moltres, Entei, or Ho-oh.)**

The flygon, Skye, snarled. "You're no legendary! You're a clone, like that Mewtwo!! You have no right to call yourself a deity!!"

Kaiyou narrowed his eyes at the sand dragon. **(Think what you wish, desert dragon, I care not. I have more important things to do than be pulled into trivial squabbles.) **He then looked at me again, and, again, I was unable to control my movements. He began to walk forward when a yellow blur rushed up from the floor, and would have hit Kaiyou had the Dark Clone not ducked. The yellow blur rose from the floor and shook itself off.

Kaiyou turned his great body to look at Tai full in the face. **(Yes, jolteon? You wish to speak to me?)**

Tai rose and snarled. "You're going to pay for what you did to Kazu!!" he shouted, taking a step forward and sending sparks everywhere. "He's nearly dead, and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" The jolteon launched himself forward, but Kaiyou disappeared into the shadow and reappeared again when Tai had flown past and landed flat on his face. I would have laughed if the situation weren't so grave.

Kaiyou narrowed his eyes again. **(Your brother will be fine. That is of course, if you stop trying to fight me and start trying to save him. Your trainer is on her way. She will prolong his life until she is able to get him to professional help. There, he will be fully recovered. You don't have very much time now. He is dying without you there.)**

I could tell Tai was torn. Should he believe the clone and run to his brother or try and kill the clone before any more pokemon could be hurt? Finally, he ran back to Kazu, occasionally slipping on the slick floor.

I looked up and saw Kaiyou smile, but, looking past his ebony and golden head, I saw something horrible.

"KAIYOU!" I shouted, "WATCH OUT!"

He looked up and then saw the army of fighting pokemon and newly added Sableye fall from the ceiling and began to beat on him. Somehow, this prevented him from going into the Void, and collapsed under all of the attacks.

"NO!!" I shouted, and then tried to tear my way through the army with my aerial ace. Unfortunately, a machamp caught me in the side with a mega kick, and I flew through the air. When I hit the floor, my eyesight went dark. The last thing I recall was the sound of Kaiyou's bestial voice screaming in pain.

It still echoes in my ears.

----------------

I don't know how long I was out. All I know was that, apparently, Shayla did come and rescue us all, and we were flying to the nearest pokemon center via private jet thanks to a rich trainer who owned the milotic Shiro.

I opened my eyes to see Saji's grim face above me. When he saw that I was fully awake, he asked softly, "How do you feel?"

I didn't know the answer myself, so I rolled over (I was on my back) and responded with a muffled "Fine." He sighed and I looked at him and became aware of the weariness that had taken over his features.

But of course, I knew why he was like that. "How's… Kazu?"

He looked at me for a moment and then looked towards the door to the room we were in. "He's sleeping, from what I understand. Shayla and Tai are both in his room… they haven't left him since they got on. Shoko's out flying with Amburna to try and relieve some stress. I was to make sure you woke up."

A bitter smile formed on my face. "Nice to know they care."

He almost glared at me, but then he stopped himself. "We are concerned. But Kazu's hurt worse. You know that."

The scizor, who had been sitting on the steel floor with me, stood up. "You can go and see Kazu if you want. I'm going to go outside with the others." With a slight nod of the head, he turned and walked out the door. I looked out the window to see Shoko and Amburna flying, and talking from the look of it. I sighed and shook myself, to try and wake my body back up. I ventured out of the room and followed Tai's musky scent to another steel door lined with about thirty others in a long hall. I pushed my way through and found Shayla and Tai sitting beside a bandaged and beaten Kazu, who looked unconscious and was lying on a white futon. I slowly made my way towards the group. Tai noticed me first.

At first he just looked at me with no real emotion in his chocolate brown eyes. After staring at me for a while, he looked back down to lay his head on his brother's side, and didn't look at me again. Shayla, apparently having noticed the jolteon's movements, looked behind herself and smiled softly when she saw me. "Hey, girl," she said. I winced when I heard her strained voice. "Come in. There's plenty of room."

Awkwardly, I slowly made my way into the room, where I could see Kazu more clearly. He was sleeping, (or unconscious, I couldn't really tell) and he had bandages wrapped around his head and around his middle. There were red splotches where the blood had leaked through. Kazu was lying on his left side, exposing the side wound. Tai's head was placed on Kazu's front leg, and the jolteon was staring out the window, apparently looking at nothing in particular.

I sat down across from Tai, facing his brother's back. "How is he…?" I asked softly.

Tai looked at me, then back out the window. "Hell if I know. All I can tell is that he's still bleeding and I can't do a bloody thing about it." His face grew more melancholy. "He's dying, I can smell it."

I winced. So… was it Kazu's life that Eclipse warned me about? Was it the espeon's life that ended so abruptly? I hung my head slightly and stared at the floor. I felt horrible. I didn't even get to warn either of the brothers of Eclipse's prediction. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened. If I had listened to Eclipse, then….

"Stop beating yourself up, Xena," Tai mumbled. I looked up at him to see him staring at me with an emotionless face. "It's not your fault. You didn't know, and neither did I. No one's to blame here."

I sighed. "If only that were true," I mumbled. That got the jolteon's attention.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, lifting his head off of Kazu's shoulder, but placing a little paw to replace it. "There's no way you could have known."

I walked away from him to the window and sat there. "Eclipse… he told me-"

"Shut up about that damn umbreon, Demi," Tai snapped, cutting me off. "I hate him and everything he has to say. He couldn't have possibly said anything of importance."

I glared back at him. "He did. Now if you would just shut up and let me talk, you would know." Tai's face snarled, but then he put his head where it had been on his brother's form and then muttered, "Fine. Talk then."

I sighed and then turned to the open window, which revealed a beautiful sky. I paid no heed to it. "Eclipse told me, after you went through that portal in the Void, that someone close to me would die. He didn't know who, but he said that it was one of two people. He didn't say who the two people were, exactly, but apparently…." I looked at Kazu and then placed my gaze to the floor. "I should have told you sooner, but… I guess I…"

I heard Tai scoff. "That's rapidash shit. He didn't know anything… He probably just guessed. There's no such thing as a Pattern doo-hickey, so there's no way that any Dark can see it and interpret it."

I looked at him. "How did Kaiyou predict Shayla coming then…?"

He glared at me. "He's a legendary. Maybe not a real one, but damn close. All legendaries have special powers -Celebi can jump time, Lugia can summon storms, Rayquaza can live in space or something. Maybe he can predict like the psychics can, or maybe he just saw her coming out the window, I don't know. All I know is that Fate is a bunch of crap. So is Luck." He stopped for a moment and then looked away from me. "You can't rely on any of them because they're not real."

He picked himself off of the futon and looked down at Kazu. "There's nothing that could have predicted this," he muttered, staring at his younger brother. "Nothing scientific, nothing ethereal." He then looked up at me and gave me a stern stare. "So don't you swallow any of that umbreon's shit, you hear me? I don't want to hear about him anymore. His name alone makes me want to vomit."

"Why do you hate him so much?" I whispered, mostly to myself than to him.

Tai stared at me. "Because… I hate umbreon. I hate them all. They think they're so high and mighty, that they know all of the secrets of the universe. I hate them because… because they're Dark….and that makes them evil…"

I cocked an eyebrow. "So I'm evil?"

He shook his head. "I thought you would be, but you're different, I guess. You're not all that bad, once the Xena thing has been peeled back." He looked at me cautiously and then became nervous. "I-I mean, you're not… evil… just really bitchy, and mean, and-"

"I get your point," I muttered. Why was he so nervous all of the sudden? He was only talking to me… Nothing big….

He swallowed. "But, still… Mom had always told us, me and Kazu, when we were really little, that we should never evolve into an umbreon. That would mean that the little dark side we all have would grow and consume us, and then we would become evil…" He looked down to his brother. "I never really questioned that… When I got older, I guessed her hatred for umbreon had come from the fact that my father was killed by one." He looked up at me. "She's a vaporeon and my father was a flareon. The umbreon that had killed him was… well, hunting. The umbreon's trainer said that the umbreon mistook my father for something else, but I could never figure out what."

My face fell. "That's horrible," I murmured, thinking about my own parents. To my current knowledge, they were safe and sound and living quietly on the route from Fortree to Lilycove. Both of them. I saw Tai shrug.

"The umbreon that killed my father was put down immediately, but still… After that, my mom was, and probably still is, under a dark cloud. Nothing could cheer her up. It devastated her even more that Kazu and I were leaving with Shayla, and that almost made me want to stay home. But she told us to go, and when we tried to stay, she used water gun to get us out of the house." A small smile came over his face. "She never was a selfish one." Then he gave a small cough. He looked around the room and muttered, "Dammit, I'm homesick now…" He yawned and stared at Kazu for a moment.

He then lied back down and placed his head on Kazu's shoulder and went back to staring out the window. I lay down myself, closed my eyes, and waited until we got back onto the ground.

---------------

Well, that chap was a little choppy… but oh well. I love you all. ::smile:: I'll get the next chap. to you as fast as I can. I've already got a good start on it. :)

Ja


	9. Mossdeep Gym

Whee!! You like Kaiyou! I feel loved… :) Oh… And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised about Kazu… hee hee hee….

Disclaimer: I own the names and personas, Kaiyou, Shayla and evil trainer man. Don't sue me, for it will not be worth the trouble.

****

Price for Freedom

Chapter 9

Mossdeep Gym

We had gotten onto the ground of Mossdeep safely, and transported Kazu to the pokemon center fairly easily. And, just as Kaiyou predicted, Kazu was alive and well in a couple of hours. By that time, he was even sitting up and cracking jokes at Tai's expense. Of course, Tai would get him right back.

The nurse in charge told us that we would have to leave Kazu overnight, just in case they had missed something, so we went ahead and made arrangements to spend the night in the pokemon center. Niether Shayla, Tai, or anyone wanted to leave the espeon by himself.

Shayla had asked Nurse Joy if Tai could sleep with Kazu, but the nurse wouldn't allow it. So in light of that, Tai stole her keys and locked himself in with his brother, much to the nurse's dismay, since the jolteon had stolen all of the keys in the facility. When Nurse Joy found out, I could hear the eevee brothers laughing from inside of their "fortress" as Tai had called it. After banging her fists on the door and demanding her keys back for an hour, she gave up and stormed back to her desk.

It was now dark and everyone -save for me, of course, was asleep. Shayla was on the top bunk, Saji on the bottom bunk, and the rest of us were on the floor, resting on futons. I knew that it was well past midnight, because I began to hear the faint cries of the dark pokemon feeding and calling to each other. And, because of the absence of sleep, my mind began to wander.

Kaiyou was the first thing that came to my mind. Was he dead now? Had Team Magma decided to let their fighting pokemon beat the Dark Legendary to death? I sincerely hoped not. Maybe they were going to try and domesticate him… From the way my former trainer talked about him, Kaiyou seemed too important and powerful to just dispose of so carelessly. I really hoped he could get away and live like he should -out in the wild like a true Legendary.

The thought of Kaiyou then made my mind turn to Eclipse and his prophecy. I wasn't too stupid to simply discard all that Eclipse said, not like Tai did. There was still the possibility that Kazu was one of the "lines" involved, but I doubted Shayla would be so stupid as to risk Kazu's health so early after recovering. _But…Now that I think about it, there weren't two lives in danger when Kaiyou awoke. At least not anything fatal. Only Kazu was really threatened. So… that couldn't have been what Eclipse warned me about. _This thought unnerved me. I didn't like the thought that someone else might die. Not that I wanted Kazu to die… I just…

I didn't want Tai to die.

I stared at the ceiling for a moment. Why had I just thought that? Why did Tai's name come up? Why wasn't it Amburna or Shoko or Saji or Kazu? It was true, I didn't want any of them to die, but why had Tai's name popped into my head…?

I shook my head free of the train of thought. I didn't want to get into that. Trying to decipher one's own feelings is like trying to make Team Magma and Aqua drinking buddies. It wasn't possible, and if attempted, it would cause a lot of bodily harm.

I sighed and forced my mind to think of the two eevee brothers. It must have been hard on them to see their father's dead body and then to look up and see a fellow eevee-form with their father's blood on his lips. Even more so to leave their mother all alone without even her mate to keep her company.

I sighed and my mind went back to earlier this afternoon, when Kazu was announced as "healthy". I remembered how Tai's face lit up, and he then started running around the room, singing some strange song that I had never heard before. And… I was happy for Tai. He had thought that his brother was going to die, only to find out that the espeon in question would be himself in just a few hours. The fact that Tai was happy for Kazu, somehow, made me happy in itself. I don't know why -I had rarely concerned myself with the fates of others beforehand. But somehow, seeing the jolteon worry himself almost to insanity like he had on the plane… As the thought came to my head, Tai's emotionless face and Kazu's broken and bloody body appeared in my mind and I shuddered. I couldn't stand to see either of them like that again.

And as I lied down on my soft futon next to the sleeping Amburna, I berated myself. What was wrong with me? Was I getting soft? Why would I care about an annoying jolteon's mental health, or an espeon's physical health? Why would I care? I was an absol, a darkling. I shouldn't care about anyone. Only myself and my family.

I rolled over on my back and frowned in the dark. It disturbed me to no end that I would concern myself over the two eevee brothers. And not only them, I had gotten fond of Saji, Shoko and Amburna. What was happening to me…? This hadn't happened before, with my former trainer. No, the only one I remotely got along with was the nidoking. I wasn't on speaking terms with the others.

I sighed and looked to my right, where Amburna was sleeping soundly. For no real reason, I took in everything I could about her -her scent, her look, her heartbeat, everything. I hadn't noticed it before, but I could tell she was close to evolving. That was wonderful news, but I couldn't quite see beautiful Amburna as a dragonite. I paused in my thoughts for a moment. I then realized that my mind was wandering. I growled to myself to try and calm myself down.

I rolled onto my left side and looked out the window, which presented a wonderful, glowing moon. Suddenly, I became homesick. Right now, if none of this had ever happened, I would be hunting for rattata with Hicha by my side. I would crack a joke, and then he would sulk. I sighed again and sat up. I missed him so much…

But, what if this had never happened? What if I got the chance to go back, to go along a different path that night? Would I trade all of this -my friends, an actual loving trainer, the ability to travel- for a sense of normality? I succinctly remembered being bored most of my time in the forest. But still… was this right for me? After all, I was a darkling…

I growled again. _There's that damn wall again_, I thought. Why did my element have to play such a big role in my everyday life? Why do so many people and pokemon alike shun Darks? Why do I do it myself…?

I moaned and plopped back down on my pillow. I pushed all of my worries and cares to the back of my mind and began to dream about kicking all of the machamp in the world into a pit of lava.

------

The next day, we all ate (the eevee brothers still locked up in the room; they had somehow gotten food) and, after Shayla apologized about a million times to the nurse, we left and set out into the city.

I took a deep breath of fresh air. It was an unusually beautiful morning, and now that I had gotten used to a different sleeping pattern, I was finally refreshed. I looked over to my comrades, who were all enjoying the beautiful morning. I smiled without any reason, and took a look at the new city.

It really was a pretty little town. There were trees planted in choice areas, and their green foliage went perfect with the sea's light blue. The houses were small, cozy, and not too abrasive to the eye. The only thing that really jutted into the sky was the space center, but it's window-covered exterior reflected the sky's hue, so it was a pretty sight in itself.

I looked up and saw Shayla with an unusual determined grin on her face. Confused, I trotted over to the charizard and asked why she was like this. He merely laughed.

"You realize where we are, right?" he asked, looking down at me to lock eyes. "We're in Mossdeep, where Shayla needs to get her next badge. You should come in handy -I hear that the gym here is psychic."

My face fell and my opinion of the town fell. I hated gyms. I looked around my team, analyzing which ones Shayla would use. Maybe Saji -he knew faint attack, me, of course, Tai knew bite, Amburna had pure power on her side, Shoko would have to sit out if there was any threat of water or rock… My gaze fell to Kazu, who was limping slightly beside his older brother.

I sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to battle so soon after a close call like that. "What about Kazu?" I asked. "He isn't going to fight, is he?"

Shoko scoffed. "Of course not. Shayla's not that cruel or stupid. Kazu's going to be on the sidelines, cheering everyone else on." He looked ahead of us, and a gleam of light entered his eyes. "Ah hah! Here's the gym." He then pointed and I glared at the building. I had always hated gyms…

It was a rather large gym, one of the bigger ones. Like most gyms, it was white on the outside. I perked my ears in the direction of the gym and heard sounds of battle raging inside. So some other poor bastard had come before us…?

Shayla smiled and motioned us all inside. Shoko, Tai and Saji were getting themselves into a battle frenzy -a state of mind where a pokemon is so hyped up about battling, that their attack and special attack gets raised a little. From what I remembered of Tai's thunder, he wouldn't need much hype to cause a lot of damage.

We entered the gym, and I almost gaped. The ceiling was high above us, where the many spotlights were placed. They illuminated the gym well -brightening the light blue tile underneath my feet. There were a few trainers scattered about, lurking in the shadows of the gym. My eyes went to the Gym Leader -or I should say Leaders- standing proudly on a purple-carpeted podium. Shayla saw them and then went towards them.

One of the trainers in the shadows rushed out. Shoko knew that Shayla didn't like to be bothered with little punks trying to show off, so he turned in the direction of the incoming trainer and growled. He showed his own sharp fangs and began to blow little tongues of flame from his snarling mouth. The trainer stopped dead in his tracks and ran the other way.

I nearly laughed. No other trainer dared come to challenge Shayla. By the time we reached the Gym Leaders, they both wore an expression of amusement.

The boy spoke first. "Welcome Challenger. This is-"

"Mossdeep Gym," the girl finished. I rolled my eyes. I hate these kinds of people. "You must pretty confident to-"

"-show off your pokemon so freely." The two twins then took a look at all of us and then back to Shayla. The boy spoke first again.

"My name is Tate and-"

"-I am Liza. You do know we use psychic types here?"

Shayla nodded. "Of course. You really think I would be so dense as to walk in a gym not knowing what I'm doing?"

The twins smiled simultaneously. "Very well," Tate said. "We shall-"

"-begin our match now."

The twins then lead the way to the center of the gym, where the battlefield was placed. They took their places and Shayla took hers. We took to the sidelines. A judge walked out, and then called out the rules. "Each trainer may use two pokemon in a two on two battle. Niether the challenger or the gym leaders may substitute pokemon. No time limit. Begin!!"

He rose his green flag into the air, and the twins let their poke balls fly. Shayla turned to us and shouted, "Demi! Amburna! You're up!"

We looked at each other and then rushed out on the field right when a solrock and lunatone materialized from their poke balls. I stared for a little bit -I hadn't seen either pokemon in real life before. I looked to Amburna and she looked to me -this would be an easy match.

Apparently, the twins figured that on their own as well. They were shocked at the sight of both of us, but then they settled into their battle faces. They began to shout orders at the same time. "Solrock, solarbeam the dragonair! Lunatone, calm mind!!"

I turned to look at Amburna, who wore a bored expression. Both of us knew she could take these two out on her own -I wasn't needed at all. Shayla knew this too, and commanded Amburna to use surf and me to use crunch in case Amburna missed.

Amburna began to glow a bluish hue and then a roar began to sound from outside the gym. The roof began to leak for a few seconds, and I moved back a couple of spaces. The twins had no idea what a surf attack inside a gym would look like. Suddenly, the roof caved and thousands of gallons of water poured in, and were pushed in the direction of the twins' pokemon by Amburna's power. The two pokemon were swept away by the powerful force, and landed against the wall of the gym, putting nice dents into said wall. Then, the water began to settle, and with another flash of Amburna's blue aura, the water vanished.

The twins were in shock and awe. They had been totally wiped out in one, decimating blast. They both looked up at Shayla, and held out her newly won badge.

----

Well, I've got the next chapter almost ready. Christmas break be almost here!!

Ja!


	10. Calling

Hezzo! I'm back! Thank you for ya'll's wonderful comments! :) I love you all! And since I do, I'll give you an early Christmas present! I feel really... bleh right now. Semester exams start tomarrow, and I don't want to take them. ::pout:: Oh well. I'll survive. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter.

****

Price for Freedom

Chapter 10

Calling

We all walked away from the gym with an air of pride. Tai was jovially congratulating Amburna, who merely thanked him about five times between each of Tai's gasps for air. I watched this with a small smile on my face when my feet stopped. My head jerked out towards the ocean, where something disturbing was coming from. I guessed it could have been a hurricane, but, no, it didn't feel like a natural disaster. It felt… more like a call for help…

Kaiyou?

"Demi!" Shayla called, looking over her shoulder with an amused face. "Aren't you comin' girl? We're going to go see the space station."

"Yeah, and see if there's a way to send Tai to the moon and leave him there for the little green men to feast on! He's fat enough!" Saji shouted. Tai glared at the scizor angrily.

"I am not fat!!" Tai shouted, and then tackled Saji to the ground. I ignored the two and leaned in the direction of Shayla and the others, but the pull, the call for help made me stay and look out over the glistening blue ocean again. It was more powerful now- as if it didn't want me to leave. Shayla began to walk over to me, and placed her hand on my white head.

"Come on, girl, I don't want you to get left behind," she said softly. I kept staring out over the ocean. I knew it was Kaiyou. And I had to help him. If he did what Team Magma told him to do… then… all of Hoenn, if not the whole world would be destroyed…

Hang on, Kaiyou, I found myself thinking, _Just don't awaken Groudon… Try your hardest to not obey them…_

I found myself thinking, 

I felt a ripple of power -Nature's power- flow through me. I looked to the sky. So there was a storm coming. A big one.

"TAI!!" Shayla shouted, simultaneously jerking me out of my reverie, "STOP TRYING TO EAT SAJI!!"

"I'm not trying to eat him!" Tai shouted back. He had his little paws on Saji's back, preventing the scizor from going anywhere. I could see little bite marks on Saji's steel leg armor, proving Tai wrong.

Shayla sighed deeply and walked over to the quarreling two, and I followed slowly behind her. Kaiyou was calling out to me… He must be in real trouble. But… I had no way of getting to him without help from the others… _And I don't think they'll be too happy about rushing to the aide of the Legendary who almost killed Kazu…_ I thought grimly to myself. I then sighed and ignored the pleas of help that were slowly fading and then, stopped completely.

-----

The space center was magnificent. It was huge- the ceiling was high above us. It was also busy -the glistening, new computers and equipment were blinking and beeping, people were diligently working about, and even a few alakazam were computing and checking data. We were all simply amazed.

Then, one of the workers turned and saw us. It was an elder man, who had a shiny scalp, once black sideburns, and small, oblong glasses. He wore the uniformal white lab coat and black slacks. He smiled when he saw Shayla, and got from his seat to her.

"Shayla! When did you get to Mossdeep?" he shouted, holding his arms out to hug her. She smiled back, and hugged him back.

"Yesterday," she replied, breaking the hug. "I've already beaten the gym."

The man laughed. "That's my niece! How many attacks did it take?"

Shayla's smile got bigger. "One."

The man laughed again, and then stopped when he looked over my comrades and me. "Where's your houndoom?"

Shayla looked up at him, surprised. "Oh, Lahami?" Shayla's face fell slightly. "She didn't really like traveling… And then, after Cianwood Gym, she didn't want to travel at all. So, I let her stay home with Mom, Dad and Shiara. From what Mom tells me, she's a lot happier now."

The man's eyes smiled. "I'm happy she's okay now too. She always seemed… sad. Almost like Shiara. And I bet Shiara's happy to have company now."

Shayla smiled. "Yup!"

I turned to Kazu, who was standing beside me. "Who are these people…?" I asked softly, and he chuckled.

"The man in front of you is Shayla's uncle on her father's side. He's really nice -I like him. Lahami is the houndoom that used to travel with us. She hated leaving her home and was under a dark cloud for the whole time we were together. She didn't like being in new places -she told us that she always felt nervous around new people. And Shiara -Shiara's my and Tai's mom, a vaporeon."

I nodded in understanding and tuned back in to the humans' conversation. So Shiara was the eevee brothers' mother. She sounded pretty.

"So who's this?" the man said, looking at me. "I don't believe I've seen her before." Shayla smiled.

"This, Uncle Clyde, is Demi," Shayla announced, holding her hand out to me. "I caught her about a week ago in a forest. She fainted Tai in one hit, with an earthquake attack. I later found out that she's been owned before, by a tamer from the sounds of it." Her face began to snarl at the memory. "The local Nurse Joy told me that he abused and abandoned her in the forest some seven years ago and has hated trainers ever since."

The man looked at his niece and then to me, a pensive expression on his round face. "She doesn't seem to hate you, Shayla. That's good."

Shayla looked down at me, a small smile on her own face. "Yeah. It is."

I shifted uneasily under their stares. It didn't matter that they were both friendly, it was just that I was the center of attention, and I felt as if I was expected to do something. I retreated slightly, and then Tai came to my rescue.

"Jolt! Jolteon jolt jolt!" he cried while hopping up and down. (In Poke speech, he said, "Hey! It's time to look at me now!") The man laughed broadly, and then went to Tai.

"Alright, you rascal! I'll pay attention to you." The man knelt down and began to pet Tai's yellow spiky head, to which he replied, "Jolt jolt." ("Damn straight.")

I nearly thanked him out loud, but then that would draw attention back to me. After the man had gotten done with petting Tai, he showed us the whole facility. I was actually bored -it was interesting at first, but then it got monotone… and I stopped paying attention. I let my feet go on auto pilot, and let my mind wander.

I heard the calls again. I cursed and tried to keep them out- to keep them away. It didn't work. Kaiyou's calls were getting too much to bear now. I gritted my teeth and furrowed my brow. I had to keep control.

Kazu, apparently, saw me and whispered, "You feel them too, huh?"

I raised my head. "What?"

"The calls," Kazu said in a soft whisper. "I can barely feel them, but you, apparently, can feel them better than I can. Who is it?"

I didn't know whether to tell Kazu who it was or not. After all, Kaiyou's aura did almost kill him. I hesitated and then said, "Kaiyou. The Dark Legendary cloned by Team Magma. You remember him, don't you…?"

Kazu looked at me blankly. "Dark Legendary? No, I don't remember anything… All I can recall is a sharp pain going through me, and the next thing I know I was in the Mossdeep Pokemon center." He shook his head. "No… I didn't see anything… But that's what happened? There was a Dark Legendary?"

I nodded slowly. "He's trying to get help… I don't know why. But… I don't think I'll be able to resist them for much longer."

Kazu seemed surprised. "Resist? What do you mean by that?"

"It's… hard to explain…" I responded. I couldn't really put it into words. Kazu made a "hmm" sound and we walked in silence some more behind the main group.

****

HELP

Suddenly, a pain in my chest exploded. I yelped involuntarily, and Kazu whirled around, frightened. Another pain seared up my back and down all four of my limbs. Then, an instinct lay siege to my thoughts, and before I knew it, I was running out of the space station into the grassy streets of Mossdeep. There was one thought running through my mind, that one word that drove me into the streets and the water.

****

HELP

I was half swimming by the time the others caught up to me. Shoko reached me first, by flying. He roughly picked me up and tossed me back onto shore where Amburna held me down. I found myself on my back in the sand, clawing at the air to get back on my feet.

"What are you DOING?!" Shoko demanded, looking incredulously down at me. "Why did you run out all of a sudden?!"

"Yes," Amburna said smoothly, "Why did you? Very strange."

Shayla then appeared in my line of sight, panting and red in the face. "Wh-What's wrong, girl?"

"I gotta go!" I heard myself shout. "I have to go!"

Tai appeared above me. "Have you gone nuts, Demi? You just thought you'd take a little vacation off and swim to an island? What are you thinking?"

I writhed in the sand, my feet still slashing at the air. "I have to go!!"

I then heard Kazu's voice to my left. "I felt something -a plea, a call. Something. I don't know what it is, and niether does she, from what she tells me, but I guess it just got out of hand and she started to go after the call. It's common with Dark and Psychic types… When one is in trouble, a telekinetic call is sent to their companions, and said companions go after the call and help whomever is in trouble."

They talked more, but I didn't listen. The pain and the call were getting stronger, and I knew that I was closer to the one who was calling. I had to get to him. I had to. I had no other choice, and I didn't care who got trampled in my wake.

"I HAVE TO GET HIM!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I pushed Amburna off of me with the help of a thunderbolt. I got on my feet and dashed to the water, where I began to wade and swim at the same time. I saw a mountain-like figure jut up in the horizon in the far distance. That was where I was going…?

No time to question. Must follow the call. Have to get there before he can't call anymore.

My feet pounded against the tide and the water, and I began to get into deeper water. Shoko tried to pick me up again, but I used thunderbolt when he touched me.

All things that prevent me reaching the call must be eliminated or scared away. Have to reach the call.

I then felt pain course through me -not like it had with the call, this was different. This was-

"Tai! Use thunderbolt again! Try and paralyze her!" I heard Shayla order. I heard Tai yell something and then I felt the pain again. I yelped and my head went underwater. I tried to swim upwards, but my legs wouldn't move.

I'm paralyzed!!

My air was running out, and my legs still couldn't move. I tried using my tail -the only limb that worked- to help propel my body upward to the bright surface, but it wasn't strong enough. I shut my eyes against the stinging salt water, and tried again to swim. My left foreleg obeyed and I pumped it against the water, hopefully in the direction of air.

I heard something to my right. I didn't know what it was -I had my eyes shut. But then I felt smooth, slippery skin wrap around my waist and shoulders. I was then hoisted up, and I felt air around me.

I opened my eyes and gasped for breath. I saw Amburna's face above my own, and, because she was disrupting me in getting to the origin of the call, I growled.

She turned to me and glared. "Don't you start with me. I'm not really effective against thunderbolts, but the fact that you pulled one on me is indecent. Be patient and we'll get to this 'call' thing."

I struggled to get out of her grip, but she held me tighter, nearly cutting of circulation. She didn't say anything after that, but she started floating above the water, carrying me with her. We landed on the beach and I tried to run again, only to have my legs give out from under me.

Tai pounced on me and planted himself horizontally on my back. "You ain't going anywhere, Xena. You've been paralyzed by one of MY thunderbolts. You won't be able to move for about five minutes."

I growled again. The call was still pounding in my head, pulling me towards the water. These other pokemon were getting in my way. They had to be dealt with.

"I HAVE TO GO!!" I yelled, and I felt Tai shift on my back.

"So we can tell," he said grimly. I felt him shift again and I heard him say, "Well, guys, she's lost it. Saji, you owe me three rare candies." I heard the scizor give a groan in the distance.

I heard Shayla sigh and she came into my line of sight. "Girl, what's wrong…?"

I was about to yell again when I heard Saji's voice say softly, "Holy shit."

I turned to my right and saw hordes of dark pokemon following the same direction as I had been. More absols were jumping into the water, accompanied by sneasel, sableye, three tyranitar, mightyena, poochyena, a few umbreon, houndour and houndoom. Murkrow blackened the sky, and sharpedo and caravana helped the land darks cross the sea.

"I guess Xena isn't the only one going nuts," Tai muttered. He got off my back and joined Shoko where the charizard was standing. I took this chance to try and make my escape, but my legs wouldn't cooperate again. I fell on my face in the sand.

Shayla sighed. "This is wrong. Pokemon shouldn't be acting like this…" She turned to me again. "Why are you acting like this?"

"I HAVE TO GO!!" I shouted, and she sighed. She pulled out a full heal and used it on me.

"What- What are you doing, Shayla?!" Shoko cried as I regained feeling in my legs.

Shayla stood up. "The dark pokemon are acting weird and I want to know why. Shoko, you carry Tai and me, Saji, carry Kazu, and Amburna, make sure she doesn't drown. Do not try and stop Demi." She got up and, at that moment, my legs were back to normal and I raced back into the water.

-----

It was a long time before I reached a place that I could really rest. The whole time I was swimming, either Amburna or a random sharpedo would help me swim if I got tired. But I had reached a place that confused me. I didn't have to go further along the surface. Actually, it felt like I was where I was supposed to be. But I kept feeling the call.

I looked under me to see many sharpedo and caravana going down. _That's where I need to go._

I looked around to see the many darks that had made the trip out lost and confused. I guessed they couldn't see where they had to go. Shayla saw what I had seen with the sharpedo and called out to Kazu, "Kazu!! Put an air shield around us all! We're about to dive!"

I dived into the water and swam down. I accidentally breathed, but I found air in my lungs, not water. I found it strange, but the instinct overtook my rational side. I had to go down.

I followed the sharpedo and caravana down to a small opening in a cave wall. I went through it and went up, towards the surface of the water.

I looked around and saw all of the sharpedo and caravana trying to get on land. I pushed my way through them and ran up the small beach, my companions and trainer behind me. I ran up a small staircase and found a wall and another trail in front of me. I had to get past the wall. Determined to get to the origin of the call, I went through the void onto the other side of the wall and left my companions behind.

I found myself in a dark, dank room, where a cage was placed on the far side wall. I walked towards it -this was where I was supposed to be. I heard a rustle in the cage and stopped. I sniffed the air. It was Kaiyou's scent, and some others, but… different. I heard a strange bitter laugh from within the cage and backed away a step.

"I wondered if anyone could get to me," a voice said from inside the cage. "But it seems you were smart enough to figure it out."

I squinted. That wasn't Kaiyou's voice. Not at all. His had a telepathic voice. Not a… human…

I saw a pale human hand reach out to another wall where a string hung, which was attached to a lamp. The arm pulled, and the light turned on, which revealed not a magnificent black and gold Dark Legendary, but a black-haired human sitting on a white futon.

I stared. He looked tall, and about in his late twenties. His clothes were modern -a white button-down long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a black leather belt, blue jeans and black hiking shoes. His hair was short and black, and two semi-long locks of hair hung down in front of his ears. His eyes were gold with flecks of red in them, and on his forehead was the same symbol Kaiyou possessed on his own forehead, only black instead of gold. I sniffed again and smelled fresh blood on him. His own blood. And there was a lot of it.

After a few moments of me staring, he chuckled. "Yes, it's me, girl. I remember you now. You were the absol with me when I awoke. Nice to see you again."

I gaped. Why was he human? Why…. "Why are you human…?" I asked, and he smiled.

"This is my own special ability. I can take human form when I'm weak or outside of shadow for a long time."

"You're… weak?" I asked, and his smile fell a little.

"Yes. I'm sure you can smell the blood on me. I don't want to tell you what happened, though. That might upset you. Don't worry about my health, girl. I'll be fine."

I was angered suddenly. "Who did this?"

His gaze narrowed. "Team Magma, of course. They thought beating me half to death would convince me to work with them. When it didn't work, they beat me again and locked me up in here until I agree to awaken Groudon. The bastards… They don't know what they're doing…"

When he mentioned the beating, I remembered the pain I had felt at the space station. _So that's what it was…_ I thought. I heard Kaiyou shift and looked at him again.

"Why can't you just enter the Void?" I asked, and he looked up at me. "I mean, you are a powerful dark. Shouldn't you be able to escape that way?"

He shook his head. "Not in human form. And if I try to turn into my real form, the fighting and bug types above you will try and stop me, and probably succeed." I looked up to see primeape, machamp, scyther, beedril and countless others pacing above me on a mesh wire cat walk. I backed away, and Kaiyou chuckled.

"Exactly. Team Magma isn't taking any chances with me." He looked up at nothing in particular and then said quietly, "You might want to get back to your trainer now. She's in a fight with about seven Magma members, and the dragonair has fainted. They're on the other side of the wall where you left them."

I gasped. The others! How could I have left them behind like that!? I ran the other way and flew through the wall. When I got out, it was mayhem.

Shayla was actually fist-fighting with a female Magma member, and each of my comrades (except Amburna) were fighting on their own. I saw Tai fighting a mightyena, and then a net ensnared him. I began to run to him when I found a net in front of my face, and a Magma member standing above me. I used flamethrower and broke the net, and kept running towards Tai, who had just fainted. An arbok stopped me, and squeezed much like Amburna had when I was first going after the call. I saw a Magma member walk up to me with a baseball bat, and he swung hard.

I felt pain, and then nothing at all.

------------

Well, that's it folks! We're getting to a part that I have almost perfectly planned out, so writing it shouldn't be a problem. Woot.

See you soon!

Ja.


	11. Captured

Jello! I'm so excited -I might be able to witness my first (and probably only) white Christmas!! YAY! I've never had one before -what, living in Texas. But it's Wednesday right now, and already it's like... 30 -something. Yay!

I'm also really excited because I'm getting new games! I haven't had a new game in like… three months. And the last new game totaled my game collection (for PS2) to a whopping four. Yes. Four. And I got my PS2… in January… ::thinks:: Yeah. January! That's when I got it. One of the games I'm supposed to get is Kingdom Hearts! YAY!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the names, the personas, Shayla, Shayla's uncle, Kaiyou, and a spoonful of lent and old sugar. Woot.

****

Price for Freedom

Chapter 11

Caught

I awoke on my side with a throbbing headache. I began to sit up, but my neck hurt too much. I softly yelped and lay back down on the rocky ground. I gritted my teeth against the throbbing pain in my neck and, as I soon discovered, my limbs. What had happened…?

I opened my eyes at the memory of the human Kaiyou and the Team Magma member hitting me with a baseball bat. I frowned. How many times was that going to happen to me…?

I sighed and took a look around me -I was in a wide-open space in the cavern. There were stalactites pointing down at the floor, and stalagmites reaching up to the ceiling. Team Magma members were stationed about the room, no more than ten occupying said cavern. My comrades were scattered about, most unconscious. I saw Shoko stir, but that was it as for movement. I took my gaze away from the sight of my teammates when I heard my former trainer's voice echo throughout the cavern.

"Finally, finally our dream has come!" he proclaimed triumphantly. At his tone, I almost scoffed. _Maybe if he weren't such a sadistic ass, he could be a preacher_, I thought grimly. "You see the awesome sleeping form of the ancient pokemon Groudon before your eyes! Behold his magnificence! He alone is the one way we can achieve our goal of spreading the landmasses and conquering over water!!"

The few Team Magma members who were in the room cheered. I myself nearly retched. How could they think that a mighty legendary pokemon like Groudon would listen to them? Selfish, stupid, ignorant humans.

I heard Kaiyou's human voice speak softly, and in a slightly cynical tone. I could almost hear the bitter smile on his face. "You don't know what you're doing, human. Groudon won't obey you. He'd kill you and then go and find Kyogre and start another cataclysmic battle. The orbs are just to make sure there's harmony between the two. And if you tear them apart, then Groudon and Kyogre will battle again and the world will be blissfully rid of pompous, feeble humans like you."

My former trainer apparently did not take heed to this, because he kept on rambling on how Groudon was wonderful and magnificent and everything they needed to fulfill their life-long dreams of conquering over water and the oceans and Kyogre. I didn't pay attention, because it got old really quickly. I shifted my attention from my former trainer to the shackles around my feet. I frowned and used a light flamethrower on the metal.

After my shackles were off, I slowly moved my body into a position to where I could see what was going on. My wounds didn't hurt that much, but I still wanted to be careful, so I made sure I wasn't moving too fast or shifting into an uncomfortable position. Once I deemed it good, I settled on my stomach and looked straight ahead, where I saw the backs of my former trainer, Kaiyou, and Shayla, who was tied up and out into a corner where she was being guarded by a Team Magma member. I frowned and then shifted my attention back to the two looking over Groudon.

I saw Kaiyou shake his head. "Groudon is an important legendary with a sacred role," he said softly, as if he had been exhausted by the subject. "All he wants is a rematch with Kyogre, and that cannot happen. Not while the Earth still has enough resources to sustain life. Kyogre and Groudon are the planet's self-destruct system. Once it gets too barren and too polluted, then Groudon and Kyogre will destroy all life and give future generations another chance. To give the planet another chance to start over." He turned to my former trainer. "This is not the time!"

The leader of Team Magma turned to Kaiyou and snarled. "Stop with that meaningless nonsense! Groudon WILL obey whoever holds the Blue Orb, and I am that one! He will obey ME and do MY will! You cannot change that, Kyogre-lover!"

Kaiyou gave out a roar of frustration. "When will you humans get your heads out of your asses and listen to reason?!" he cried. "Groudon is not a puppet that will bend to anyone's will! He would sooner obey a plank of wood with a frowny face than a human child, much less YOU!"

"How dare you insult our leader, Clone filth!!" shouted a Magma member further back in the chamber. "Our leader knows exactly what he's doing-"

"Oh, shut up," Kaiyou retorted, turning back to face the Magma member. "Your leader doesn't know shit."

The Magma member fumed. "How… DARE you…!"

My former trainer held up his hand in a gesture of silence. "Stop bickering with him. You won't get us anywhere." He turned back to Kaiyou. "YOU owe your life to me, pokemon. You WILL obey me, or I shall find ways to persuade you."

Kaiyou cocked an eyebrow. "Obey you? Pah! I would sooner be the lap dog to Giovanni than obey YOUR orders. Besides, what are you going to do, beat me?"

My former trainer, to my despair, shook his head with a sadistic smile on his face, like the expression he always wore when torturing me. "No…" he said cruelly, eyeing Groudon. "No. Abusing you does nothing but waste energy. What I have in store will, in my belief, be much more effective."

Kaiyou glared. "What do you mean?"

My former trainer's sinister smile widened and he motioned to a Magma member off in the shadows, who had been standing beside a large cage, almost where Shayla was being held. The Magma member came into the light, holding something small, fuzzy and black in his arms. I took a sniff and then realized what it was. Kaiyou, from what I could tell, knew what it was too.

My former trainer gently took the baby poochyena from his subordinate's arms. The poochyena shifted uncomfortably in the Magma leader's grasp and calmly brought out a gun from his waist and held it up to the pup's head. Kaiyou and I simultaneously lurched forward, but then we stopped ourselves.

Kaiyou glared with so much animosity, I was scared of him. "Don't you dare…" My former trainer merely laughed off Kaiyou's warning.

"I thought this would get your attention," the Magma leader said with the sinister smile on his face. "I have learned many things over the years about pokemon and humans. One of them is, if they don't mind damage being done to themselves for a righteous cause, then their downfall is damage to others. And knowing full well that you are the Dark Legendary, then I thought it fitting that a baby poochyena would be the life on the line. Now, what is it going to be, Darkling? Groudon or this poochyena? Don't think I won't do it, either. I've stripped pieces off of my own pokemon before -a stranger won't make me lose sleep."

Kaiyou hardened his glare. "You sick bastard…"

My former trainer narrowed his eyes. "Choose. Or must I choose for you?"

The Dark Legendary didn't answer right away. "Say that I don't choose Groudon. You shoot the poochyena and then what? You'll kill everyone in here? And when you do, there'll be no one left but you and I, and I would have won by then. You have nothing to gain. All you have are empty threats."

But my former trainer's sinister expression didn't waver. "Oh, but that's where you're wrong. See, I would have to kill everyone in here, and I know you too well. You won't have that. You're not the kind of person who can save his own hide by letting a few others die for it. So, each baby poochyena or houndour or sneasel or absol or human I kill in here you will feel. You'll break down by the time I get through them all, and then you'll beg me to stop. Your plan would work if you weren't so soft-hearted, Darkling."

Since I was so engrossed in the conversation, I didn't notice Saji come up beside me, "The hell's going on?" he asked softly. I glanced at him; he was on his own stomach and performing an army crawl to get a little ahead of me to see better.

"They're trying to make Kaiyou awaken Groudon, but he won't do it. And now that sick freak of a human is about to shoot a baby poochyena if Kaiyou doesn't obey," I heard myself say in a soft, loathing tone. Saji's face contorted into one of pure hate.

Saji was about to say something, but my former trainer interrupted him. "Now, choose, Darkling!"

Kaiyou was silent for a long time. His golden eyes were locked on the baby poochyena, who in turn stared up at him with adoration. Kaiyou's eyes fell, and he turned away. "I won't do it. Groudon cannot be awoken. If I do, billions will die."

My former trainer's wicked face smiled even more. "Well, then you leave me no choice." He cocked the gun, and held it back up to the poochyena's head. And then he pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gun was ear splitting, and I had to flinch away and cover my ears to keep them from exploding themselves. The poochyena's weak yelp was smothered by the immense crack of the gunpowder, but I still heard it. When the sound began to echo throughout the cavern, I turned back to the scene in front of me. The dead poochyena now lay lifeless on the ground, its head concave and a pool of blood around it. Saji shuddered beside me, and I held back bile. My focus went from the dead pup to Kaiyou, who was kneeling on the ground, holding his head.

My former trainer, who's clothing was stained red, laughed. "I hadn't hoped for a twist like this!" he exclaimed happily while holding up his gun in the air. "It seems that this Legendary feels all damage done to one of his own element! Ha ha, you fool, do you really think you can survive all these pokemon and people dying when you feel and endure their pain?" To this, Kaiyou glared up at him.

The Magma leader smiled again and waved his gun, to which a Magma member opened the cage and brought out a baby houndour. And now that the houndour had seen what had happened to the poochyena, the little pup fought against the hand of the Magma member. Alas, his efforts were for naught, for he reached the hand of my former trainer. The gun was then pointed at his little head, and he began to whimper.

"Now, I shall give you another chance. Will you or will you not activate the Blue Orb and awaken Groudon?" he said confidently.

Kaiyou stood up shakily and was about to say something when Saji began to yell.

"How many pups have to die before you realize that that bastard isn't going to stop killing?!" he yelled. Kaiyou turned back and glared, but Saji kept going. "He's enjoying it, dammit! He isn't going to stop because it's wrong! He'll keep going until all of the pokemon in here are dead! Will you sacrifice us all like that!?"

Kaiyou continued glaring. "I have no choice. If I do activate the Blue Orb, then we'll all die anyway." His face went from furious to a bitter smile. "So, it seems I'm caught, huh? Damned if I do and damned if I don't." He turned back to face Groudon and then took a look at the baby houndour, who was still trying to wriggle out of my former trainer's grasp. I heard him heave a heavy sigh and then his body began to darken, and a black aura encircled him. He was going to his true form!

"NO!" I heard Shayla shout from her seat. "Kaiyou, you CAN'T!!"

"Quiet, girl!" my former trainer shouted. "He's finally realized that he can't disobey me! Don't encourage him to defy me, or I'll have your brains litter the floor like the poochyena!" Shayla stayed quiet.

When I looked back to the Dark Legendary again, he was fully transformed in his true form. His golden and ebony pelt glittered in the lava's light, and his huge, lithe body. I then noticed his many wounds littering his body, marring his shining pelt. He stepped forward, and my former trainer began to ramble triumphantly, and he dropped the houndour pup on the ground, who skittered to Shayla.

"Now, Dark Legendary, now!" he shouted. "Show us your power and activate the Blue Orb! Bring Groudon back into this world!!" He held out the Blue Orb towards Kaiyou. The Dark Legendary looked at it, and then paused.

Then, he growled. **_(Bastard human! I'll never lower myself to YOUR level!!) _**Then, with deadly speed and force, he opened his mouth and clamped my former trainer in his jaws, and then swung him around. The Blue Orb fell to the ground. A Magma member tried to retrieve it, but Kaiyou flung my former trainer into the other man, and picked up the Blue Orb gently in his jaws.

He looked to me, and yelled, **_(What are you waiting for?! GO! GET OUT OF HERE! GET EVERYONE OUT!!)_** I nodded quickly and tried to rouse my fainted comrades. Shoko, Saji and Amburna were awake, but the eevee brothers were out. Shoko and Saji carried them, while I cut Shayla loose.

Shayla rubbed her wrists and looked around. "There's no way out!" she shouted over the commotion that Team Magma and Kaiyou were making. "The way we came is blocked! And we have to get all of these baby pokemon out!" She then pointed to the cage in which the poochyena and the houndour came out of. I looked back behind me to try and see if there was another way out.

"KILL THE BASTARD!!" I heard my former trainer yell. "KILL HIM!! GET THE ORB BACK!" His body was now bloodied and broken -thanks to Kaiyou's jaws. I turned and saw Kaiyou trying to escape with the Blue Orb in his mouth. He was running along the edge of the lava pit, and was trying to avoid the many bullets that were being shot at him. From the blunt pain that I felt, he didn't avoid them all. And then, he disappeared into the shadows.

I knew then that I had to take everyone into the Void and out in order to escape in one piece, especially since Team Magma was distracted with Kaiyou. I began to run towards the wall, everyone following me. I opened a portal and made it last long enough to allow everyone through. In ran in the Void, and then jumped out into bright light and onto rocky ground.

As everyone came out behind me, I looked around and saw that were back on the ocean -apparently on a tiny little island. I narrowed my eyes. I could smell blood. I saw dark red drops on the ground and followed them. I then breached a little hill to see Kaiyou, his ebony and gold pelt stained with his own blood, struggling to climb over a particularly large boulder. In his tightly clamped jaws was the Blue Orb. I heard Shayla gasp behind me, and he whirled his great head towards us in alarm. He narrowed his eyes and then asked of us, **_(W-what is it? You need to get away from here. You're still too close to Team Magma. I may have crippled their leader, but that won't stop them for long. Now go, get out of here.)_**

Shayla didn't take heed to this. "You're… you're hurt…" She set the cage full of dark pups and took a step towards Kaiyou. He flinched away from her.

**__**

(Don't worry about me. I'll be able to heal on my own. Your pokemon need more attention than I do.) Shoko shook his head.

"You can't climb over a big rock. Heck, you have what, seven or so gunshot wounds, all near the vitals? You need serious attention, uh… sir," the charizard said awkwardly. Apparently, Shoko didn't really know how to address a legendary properly. Kaiyou didn't pay attention to this.

**__**

(I'm fine. Or at least I will be. Just get those pups out in a safe haven, alright, human?) Shayla frowned slightly, and then pulled out an ultra ball. Kaiyou flinched further away.

"I know you'll probably disagree to this, but I think I'll be able to help you more if you… get into the ultra ball. That way, I can carry you more easily and we can heal you faster. Please, you're hurt and so are my other pokemon. They need attention, but not as much as you. Please, let me help you."

Kaiyou glared and raised his bloodstained fur. **_(No way in Hell. You keep that thing away from me. I can't be captured. If I am, then he'll be pissed at me. I can't. No. You keep that ultra ball away from me.)_**

Shayla pursed her lips. "You stubborn fool! Can't you tell that you're dying?! Let me help you!"

**__**

(I'd rather die than be owned by a human!!) he cried, spitting the Blue Orb onto the ground so he could properly show off his bloody fangs. Of who's blood was on his teeth, I didn't know. He snarled and then added, **_(A Legendary? Accepting help from a HUMAN!? How ridiculous is that!? I'll NEVER go with you, girl!)_**

Shayla's lip went up slightly, as if mimicking Kaiyou's present expression. "Oh really? Well, whether you like it or not, you're going to. Amburna, paralyze him! Shoko, keep Demi down!!"

I knew instantly what she wanted to do. I was about to run to protect my legendary, but Shoko held me down. And since he had his feet planted in the ground, he was impervious to my thunderbolt. And I couldn't reach him for any of my other attacks. So all I could do was watch as Amburna used thunderbolt and paralyzed my Lord. Kaiyou's legs gave, and he fell to the ground.

Shayla threw the ultra ball, and in a shiny bright red light, he went in. The ball tipped and rolled for a little bit, but then a click sounded, and there wasn't anymore movement.

Shayla had captured Kaiyou…

----

Whee!! Merry Christmas! I'll try and update as soon as I can!

I am now the proud owner of a Game Cube… or at least of Super Smash Bros. Melee. I'm getting the Game Cube later.

Ja


	12. A Short Interlude

Hello! Happy new year everyone! I hope none of you ended up like my sister… Passed out beside the toilet because she drank eight cans of keystone… ::shakes head:: Anyway, I finally unlocked Mewtwo on my Super Smash Bros. Melee game. ::jumps for joy:: I'm so happy! And I finally found the stupid cloth in Kingdom Hearts. Now I need to find some coconuts.

I'm surprised no one asked of who Kaiyou was referring when he told Shayla that he couldn't be captured. **_(No way in Hell. You keep that thing away from me. I can't be captured. If I am, then he'll be pissed at me. I can't. No. You keep that ultra ball away from me.)_**

Oh well. Thank you for all of your kind words and such! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own all the things I said I did in the last chapter. And I don't own all of the things I said I didn't. Yes.

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Price for Freedom

Chapter 12

A Short Interlude

After Shayla had captured Kaiyou, we raced to the Sootopolis Poke Center, the cage of baby darks in Shayla's hands. The Nurse Joy had asked us about it, but Shayla didn't pay any heed to her as she darted for the PC. She had told us that she had to get Kaiyou out of the storage before Professor Oak found him.

By this time, Tai and Kazu were awake. As Shayla furiously typed in commands at the computer, Tai limped up to my side. I frowned slightly; he wasn't acting like himself since he woke up. He was very… tranquil.

"What's she doing?" he asked softly. "Did she catch something?"

I nodded. He looked at me and then asked, "Well? What did she get?"

A small frown formed on my face. "Kaiyou."

"Oh… okay…" At first, he didn't seem to understand what I said. But then he did a double take. "WHAT!? KAIYOU?!"

I sighed. "Yes, while you were still passed out. Shayla wanted to help him because he was hurt so bad, but he wouldn't cooperate. So… she caught him."

Tai was about to say something when I heard a strange sound come from the PC. I looked up and saw an old man in the monitor. Apparently, that was the world-famous Professor Oak. I chuckled. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Shayla," he half-cried, "What in the world have you sent me?!"

"Uh…" Shayla's voice was small and meek. Not at all what her normal voice sounded like. "Well… I really don't know what to tell you… but I need him transferred over to me. I'm sending Kazu over to you." She then turned to us and temporarily ignored the Professor's cries of panic. "Kazu, come on."

Kazu, who had been standing behind me, stepped forward. I was sad; Kazu was now a good friend. I hated to see him leave. _But now he'll be able to see his mom again, so I guess it works out,_ I thought. It made sense, though. Kazu was still a little weak from his injuries, and Shayla didn't want to risk more injuries.

"Well, see ya, guys," he said. He waved good-bye with his tail and then disappeared in red light as he retreated into his poke ball. My focus went back to the PC, where the professor was still in hysterics. Shayla picked up Kazu's poke ball and set it down on a grooved steel counter.

"I'm sending him over to you, Professor," she said calmly. "Now, will you send me the one I just caught?"

"Send him to you?" asked the professor. "No! He must be examined! I've never seen one like this before! Why, he looks a bit like a mutated umbreon, but I have to investigate! And he's so strong -how did you catch him!? He's stronger than any other pokemon I've ever run across, that's for sure!"

Shayla's eye twitched and her voice went from meek to deadly. "Professor…"

Professor Oak sighed. "Oh alright. But you have to let me study him further later on. Alright?"

Shayla rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just send him to me."

The professor heaved a deep sigh and then began to klack at his keyboard. The PC made some strange noises, and then Kazu's poke ball disappeared. In a second, a new one, an ultra ball appeared. I looked in the monitor and saw Kazu's poke ball arrive in Pallet town.

"Well, gotta go, Professor! Lots of things to do! Take care of Kazu!" Shayla picked up Kaiyou's ultra ball and shut the monitor off as Professor Oak waved good bye. Then she turned to us. "I need all of you to get in your poke balls… I need Nurse Joy to heal you."

She took out our poke balls and we retreated back into the red light until she called for us again.

--------------

It was nighttime when we got back out. I felt refreshed like never before -that Nurse Joy really knew how to get a pokemon better. I looked around at my new surroundings -we were now in a forest. _Shoko must have flown us here,_ I thought. I took a sniff, and then was struck with de ja vu. I pushed the feeling aside as I stretched out and purred a little. I felt great. Unfortunately, Tai heard me purr.

"Wow, the Mighty Xena purrs?" he asked from his food bowl. "That's just simply amazing -I never thought she could do anything other than kick people's asses."

I glared. So much for my good mood. "What's this? Tai, having more than three brain cells? I thought the only thing he could do was eat and be annoying."

Tai shrugged. "Hey, at least I can do more than one thing."

I sighed deeply and allowed Tai to win that particular battle. Shayla handed me my own bowl of food, and then went to a tree. A figure was lounging amidst the limbs, and I guessed who it could have been.

"Kaiyou," Shayla said, "You really need to eat. You were healed a bit from the Poke Center, but you're still weak. You can't stress your body while it's trying to heal."

I saw a glint in his human eyes as he glared down at my trainer from his perch on the tree. "I know. But I'm not going to lower myself to the level of eating 'food' that's processed from cardboard. Isn't that also straining myself -eating shit like that?"

Tai growled. "She makes it herself, moron. And she doesn't use cardboard."

Kaiyou's glare turned to the jolteon. "Oh? And how would she know what real food is supposed to taste like? What if I don't want to be served? What if I want to hunt? What does she know about anything? Tell me, jolteon, did you like the food she set before you when you first tried it, or did you have to lower your standard for food so you could eat it?"

Tai growled again, and I noticed his fur became like spikes. "You know, you are really pissing me off! Why don't you get off that high horse of yours and eat?! She makes due with what she has!"

Kaiyou sighed and leaned back. "No need to get angry, jolteon. I'm just asking some questions."

Amburna, who had been sitting near Shayla's spot near the fire, looked back at Tai and scowled. "Yes. He's just trying to rile you up. Don't get angry, that's just going along with him -you're doing what he wants you to do."

Tai growled again and then spit a lugie near Kaiyou's tree. Then, he began to eat again, although he kept his fur in spikes. I looked up to Kaiyou, who then smiled slightly and then turned away. Shayla sighed and then sat back down.

"Well, I have some meat rations if you want them, Kaiyou. If not, then you can go ahead and hunt. Just try to stay around here, I don't want anyone to see you. That might be a problem…?"

Kaiyou had transformed into his true form and was eating Shayla's food. She stared at him blankly, and then asked, "What… What are you doing? I thought…"

He looked up from his bowl. **_(What? I'm hungry. You really don't expect me to pass up food when I don't even have to work for it, do you?)_** Saji snickered -I guessed he got the joke. Tai didn't though.

"Then why the hell were you telling us all that crap earlier, huh?! Why didn't you just come down and eat and made it easier for all of us?!" Kaiyou looked over to the jolteon.

Then, I saw a slight smirk cross his face. **_(Why, to piss you off. It worked wonderfully. Now if you don't mind, I would like to finish my meal.)_** And with an air of calmness, he went back to eating. Tai was furious for the rest of the night. Of course, that just made me snicker all the more.

-------

It was now morning. After Shoko did a scout around the area, Shayla decided to leave us all out of our poke balls. Tai was still mad about the night before, but Kaiyou didn't seem to recall any of it. He was acting completely different than what I expected him to when I first met him. I thought he was going to be quite the rebellious Legendary, but he surprised me by being a gentleman, other than the night before, of course. I supposed he got over his loathing of being captured and was now "going with the flow", so to speak.

He was walking ahead of the main bulk of the group in his true form. In the daylight, I could really see the damage that had been done to him. He was still limping a bit, but it was so subtle that I couldn't really tell which leg was hurting him. His coat wasn't as shiny and glossy as I remembered it the first time I saw him, because it was matted with dry blood and marred with wounds. Seeing him like that made me feel… sad…

Tai came up behind me and smiled. "Aww… does Xena have a crush?"

I blinked. Had he… just… "What?"

Tai smiled knowingly. "Yeah, I can see it. You keep on staring at him like if you stop, you'll die. I know what that means. You're in lo-ove."

My mouth agape, my eyes wide, I stopped in my tracks and stared incredulously into Tai's face. "With who, exactly?" I asked, a little perturbed that he suggest such a ludicrous thing like me being in love.

"With the Legendary, of course," Tai said casually. "Or… is it someone else?"

I shook my head. "You know when I said you had three brain cells?"

Tai blinked. "Yes."

"Well, I've demoted you to negative twelve. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard -me, having a crush! That's so… so…"

"True!" Tai shouted. "I know it! I can see it in your eyes!"

"In my eyes?" I nearly shouted. "No, what you're seeing in my eyes right now is annoyance. Shut up, will you? You're giving me a headache."

Tai pranced around me happily. "Demi's in lo-ove! Demi's in lo-ove!"

"Shut up, will you!?" I cried. "I am NOT in love! And if you say that I am one more time, I'll beat your annoying ass into the ground!"

He stopped his prancing and came face to face with me. "You'd like that would you? 'Cause then you get to see my sexy ass."

I stared at him for a while. "You sick freak."

Kaiyou, who had apparently been listening, chimed in. **_(Jolteon, she's not in love.)_** He looked over his shoulder, and then smirked in a way that made me feel a little uncomfortable. **_(At least not with me.)_**

Tai's smile grew wider, if that was physically possible. "What's this?! Now this is a wonderful twist! So who is it, Demi? Kazu? Shoko? ….Amburna?"

"NO!" I shouted. "NO! NOT ANYONE!"

Tai's smirk twisted into an evil grin. "I know who it is."

I sighed deeply and glared at him. "Who?" I asked through clenched teeth.

He leaned in close. "It's me, isn't it?"

My face formed a scowl. For some reason, when he said that, my heart gave a jolt. Instead of showing it, I rolled my eyes and said without much enthusiasm, "Am I really that transparent? I want you, I need you, oh baby, oh baby." With that said, I brushed past him and Kaiyou and furiously stomped into the forest. I had never been so pissed off in my life.

Behind me, I could hear Tai and Kaiyou chuckling.

Stupid boys…

-------------

Whee! That was a bunch of fun! Now, see? Kaiyou DOESN'T have a stick up his arse! He's actually a fun-loving guy. I love him. ::huggles Kaiyou:: I was really looking forward to writing this chapter. It really was a bunch of fun.

Well, school is now… two days away. ::shudders:: Hate. I'll try to keep writing as much as I can. Until next time…

Ja ne!


	13. Family

Yeah, I'm supposed to be writing an English paper, but I don't feel like doing it right now. Besides, I need to warm up my typing skills so I don't suck on my computer.

I also noticed that one person (that I know of) asked about who Kaiyou was referring. Sorry, I didn't see your review until I updated. Then I was like, "Aww, crap." Oh well. ::shrugs:: You'll all find out who it is later, if you don't already know. And believe me, no one but one person out there reading this knows who it is. THAT I'm sure of. Hahahaha.

Disclaimer: This disclaimer is going on for the rest of the story unless I add more to it. (Which I probably will…) I own the names, personas, Shayla, Kaiyou, Shayla's Uncle, and that's it. Nothing else is mine.

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 13

Family

I now knew where we were. We were traveling north along Route 120, or the route leading up to Fortree City. In other words, my home. We had even walked past a burrow that belonged to a friend of mine a few hours ago. When I had realized where we were, I got extremely homesick. I guessed Saji noticed and came up beside me.

"Hey… Aren't you from here?" he asked. I nodded slightly and kept my gaze on the path ahead of me. In the corner of my eye, I saw another burrow that belonged to my cousin. And beside hers was my aunt's. I remember her as a wonderful, loving aunt who would always bring pecha, sitrus and chesto berries when she visited my parents' burrow. I missed her…

I heard Saji sigh. "I didn't really have a home to be homesick of. Not for long, anyway. My parents had been captured when my younger sister and I were very young -a bug-catching contest was taking place, and both our parents were caught. Then another trainer came and took my sister. When Shayla came, I was alone, and didn't really put up a fight. Shoko was newly evolved, and he was really clumsy with his aerial attacks. So when he used a fly attack against me, I survived it because he only grazed me. And then…" He looked down. "Shayla wanted to test my powers a bit, so she challenged a bug trainer. My… my mother… I had to fight my mother… But, she didn't seem to remember me. I knew it was her, but… she…"

I blinked. Fighting against one's own relatives is always tough, especially when you have to use your strongest attacks. I've never had to do it, except for Hicha, (but he doesn't really count) so I don't know how it feels. It must have done great damage to Saji.

"I don't know how she learned it," he continued, "but she used a flamethrower on me. A flamethrower… She nearly killed me… Then, I got into a rage and used my wing attack. She was always frail -she was born with a weak heart. And… and then…"

My eyes fell. "You… you killed her?"

He didn't respond. Instead, the scizor sighed and turned to me. "If it weren't for that moment, I would have escaped Shayla and returned to my home, even though it was empty and cold. At least I would have been free. At least I would have had the freedom to roam around and breathe the air like I was supposed to, not from the enclosed space of an ultra ball. For a long time I hated it -living like I was." He sighed and shook his head.

"My point is, Demi, do you like being on the team? Or would you rather live here, in this grassy, beautiful forest?" He made a sweep with his claw. "I know your parents still probably live here, and your siblings if you have any. Would you rather abandon the team and go back to living the way you had been before your old trainer caught you?"

Not really wanting to answer that question, I looked up to him with a suspicious expression. "Why are you asking me this?"

He looked down. "Because you're a rebel at heart, are you not? Otherwise, you wouldn't have the nickname 'Xena'. And, ever since I've met you, you've been… wilder than the rest of us. I guess that's because we're all pampered pets now. But…"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Saji, do you really not like being a trainer's pokemon?" I asked. I couldn't really fathom any of Shayla's long-term pokemon disliking life with her; she was actually an agreeable human. The scizor laughed bitterly.

"Of course. Most pokemon do. But why don't they escape? Because, by the time they're strong enough to gather the courage to destroy their own poke ball and possibly murder their trainer, they would be hunted for the rest of their life. If I attempted that… do you really think any trainer in their right mind would pass up the chance to catch a WILD scizor? Especially at my level? You saw the way Shayla jumped at the chance at catching you."

I stared at the ground. "I don't understand. Why are you telling me this?"

I heard him laugh and looked back at him. "Because," he said, "if the chance arises, I want you to get out. You're strong enough to fend off the best trainers. And here, in a forest you know like the back of your paw, it would be easy to escape an abnormally strong trainer. I don't like the fact you were captured after escaping your other bastard of a trainer, but now that you're in Shayla's hands for the moment, I guess it's all right. But once the opportunity arises, and you have a way out, take it. You're brave enough. Make up for my own cowardice and live like you should -like you were born to."

I paused in my walking and stared at Saji's retreating back. I never knew he felt like that. Especially since he told me that living with Shayla was okay. _I guess… he wanted to get to know me a little better before he poured his heart out to me,_ I mused. I sighed and began to walk again, pondering on what Saji had told me.

---------------

I had mused for quite a while when I noticed we were in a very familiar place. I let my eyes roam over the familiar trees and bushes when my eye caught the sight of an entrance to a burrow. I didn't notice my feet stop. So, when Tai bumped into me, I was brought back to reality. He looked at me angrily and said, "Hey, you caught in quicksand or something? Move!"

I didn't really pay attention to what he said, but I moved anyway, in the direction of the burrow, of course. I squatted down and looked inside to see if I could see the messy white fur of my brother or the unusual light blue fur of his mate's. I could see niether. I sniffed and smelled an absol down there, and it smelled like my brother. So, I called softly to him. "Vorren? Vorren, you there?" Then, I tried his mate's name. "Kisha? Kisha!"

I felt Tai come up next to me and looked down in the burrow. "What's in here, buried treasure?"

I slapped him away from the entrance of the burrow with my paw. "No, dumbass," I replied harshly. I turned back to the burrow and saw something stir. "Vorren?" I called.

I then saw a pair of eyes look up at me, one the usual bright red, the other a deep blue. My heart leapt. Those were my brother's eyes!

"Vorren!" I cried. Without thinking, I jumped down the burrow and crashed into my brother. He gave a yelp of surprise, and then turned to look at me with his unusual pair of eyes.

"A… Ayako?" he asked. At my brisk nod, I could see his face break into a big smile in the dim light. Disregarding the proper way to greet a relative, he tackled me and began to lick my face. Then, I heard Tai's voice from above me.

"HEY! What's going on down there!?" he cried. I could hear the slight distress in his voice, and then he attempted to jump down the burrow entrance, but since he couldn't see, scampered his way back up. He then began to pace briskly in front of the entrance.

Vorren stopped licking my face when he heard Tai's frantic voice, and allowed me to get up. When I got to my feet, I saw Vorren looking up at Tai, a slight frown on his face. "Why's a jolteon at the entrance of my burrow?"

I felt my face flush. "Uh… Vorren? That's Tai… a… a comrade of mine. But never mind about him, where's Kisha?" My brother's mate was very nice and understanding, and I knew that if Vorren learned of my… state of being captured, she would cool him down before he would try to kill Shayla.

His eyebrow raised. " 'Comrade'… ? What do you mean comrade?"

I gulped. Vorren never knew I had been captured. Our youngest sister, Raven, had been captured when she was very young, and he never took well to it. I didn't know what my parents told him when I was captured, just that they probably didn't tell him the truth. "Um… nothing! Nothing at all, Vorren! W-where's Kisha?"

He frowned. "In the forest. She's busy gathering and storing berries for the storm that's coming. Is there something you're not telling me?"

I gulped again, and then the light to the burrow diminished as a shadow came over it. I looked up and saw Shayla's silhouette. _Oh, shit._

"Demi? Demi, are you okay?" she called. Vorren growled and leapt up the burrow, ready to attack Shayla.

"Vorren, wait!" I cried. When I scrambled up the burrow, Vorren was facing Tai. _He'll get slaughtered!_ I thought. I ran up to my brother and grabbed onto his marred, webbed tail with my teeth. "Vorren, stop! Don't fight him! He's more powerful than you think!" I cried. He turned back to look at me and shook my teeth off of his tail.

"So you do know him? Is this your trainer?" he asked in disgust. "After Raven was captured, I thought you would be careful enough to watch where you went. And then Mom and Dad told me what happened to you -you got caught by an amateur tamer! Is this the trainer that you go so faithfully along with? Did you bring me out here so your trainer could capture me and Kisha too?!"

I didn't know what to say. After a few moments of awkward silence, a figure stepped out of the woods. Kisha, holding a leaf pouch full of berries, stared at us with blank, wide eyes. Shayla gasped at her beautiful blue fur. Vorren growled again.

"Your human better not try to get Kisha or I'll rip the damn human's throat out, hear me?" he threatened at me. Tai's fur went up at the threat.

"No one's trying to capture anyone," Tai said in a low voice. "Demi… Ayako wanted to see you, from what I can tell. Shayla didn't ask her to find you or anything. Your sister isn't acting under orders."

"Bull shit," he replied deep in his throat. He turned to me. "You traitor! How dare you lead these punks to the burrow and try to have us captured! Are you after Mom and Dad too? Well, I won't allow it! I'll DIE before I see another member of this family be captured by one of those bastard humans!" With that said, he lunged at Shayla, teeth out and fangs bared.

Shayla screamed, but then Shoko blasted a mouthful of fire at my brother, which caught him in the side and blew him off course. He landed with a heavy thud and groaned. I knew that Shoko was easy on him, but my brother wasn't even half of Shoko's level. I ran to my brother, but he slashed at me with his claws, which I easily avoided.

"Get away from me, traitor!" he cried as he attempted to get up. I was frantic -I smelt the burnt flesh and fur of my brother, but I couldn't help him unless I wanted to get hurt. When he reached his feet, he glared at me. "So you let that fire lizard attack me?"

I shook my head. "Vorren, I didn't think you would attack her… I mean, she's not-"

"She's not what, Ayako? Not mean? She took away your name, dammit! She took away your freedom, your life! She took you away from your home and family and friends! And you let her have her damn charizard attack me?!"

I flabbergasted. I didn't know what to say to these accusations. How could I respond? Anything I could say would be thrown right back in my face with a vengeful edge by my brother. Thankfully, Kisha came to my rescue.

"Vorren," she said softly in her mellow, calm voice, "don't scare her. I doubt she wants to see you captured today. Calm down." She began to walk towards him, but he stepped away from her but closer to me.

"What are you talking about?" he nearly screamed. "That's what any trained pokemon wants to see!" He turned back to me and then tried to slash me, but I dodged that too. He growled in frustration.

"Dammit, Ayako! Stand still so I can kick your ass!" he cried. He charged at me, but I jumped out of the way and he skidded into a tree. I ran behind Kisha for protection, but Tai didn't seem to think this wise.

"What are you doing, Demi?!" he yelled. "He's so weak, Shoko's EMBER almost caused him to faint! You could take him in a heartbeat!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amburna whack the oblivious jolteon on the head with her lithe tail. "That's her brother. Maybe she doesn't WANT to faint him?"

Tai muttered a soft, "Oooh…" when Vorren began to yell at me again. "Ayako!" he shouted, "Get out from behind Kisha! Don't use her as a shield!"

I heard Kisha scoff, something she rarely does. "She has good right to, Vorren," she declared tersely. "You are acting like a psychotic maniac and all she wanted was to see you and I, even possibly introduce us to her companions. And here you are, shunning her like she betrayed the family!"

"She did by leading that bitch of a human here!" he roared back.

Kisha sighed deeply, picked up a berry from her fallen leaf pouch and threw it at Vorren's head. The berry struck its target. "You stubborn moron!" she cried. "How dense can you become?" She sighed again and shook her head. "Well, if you won't trust her, then I will. And, since you are being a complete imbisile, then take these berries to the burrow and put them in the store while I meet Ayako's companions and trainer." With a slight upwards toss of her head, she turned and began walking towards my team. A smile came to my face.

Vorren growled and plopped onto his haunches. "I'm not letting you out of my sight with a trainer around," he replied. Kisha rolled her eyes and then went up to Shoko and began to converse pleasantly with him.

I remained where I had been standing, not really wanting to move. I felt as if caught in the middle of some unseen battle, torn between my brother and my commitment to my team. Thank goodness Kisha was on my side, or else I wouldn't know where to go. Shayla walked towards me and then sat down beside me.

For a moment, she didn't say anything, just watched as her pokemon talked with my brother's mate. She turned to me and then asked softly, "Do you know where Kaiyou went? He's disappeared all of a sudden."

"Kaiyou?" I asked, and, after a moment, she nodded her head. I looked down at the ground. Actually, I hadn't seen him for a while. The thought that something had happened to him disturbed me a little, but I brushed off the worry. After all, not much could take him down, and he could use the Void when he wanted to get back. "He's probably brooding somewhere where Tai isn't blabbing his mouth," I answered, and Shayla chuckled.

"Probably," she replied, and turned to look at my brother. Her smile fell, and was soon replaced with a somber frown. "Is he always like this?" she asked as her eyes took in his posture, which was reeking of "stay-the-hell-away-from-me-and-my-family". I gulped again and shook my head.

"Only around trainers. Kisha's gotten him to be more adventurous, but not by much," I answered. I saw Shayla nod slightly and look back to Kisha and her team.

"She's a really beautiful absol," she said loftily. "I've never seen one like her -a real rarity." For a moment, I tensed. It sounded as if Shayla wanted to catch Kisha. "Your brother's lucky to have a mate like her. And she seems very nice. Your brother better protect her."

I smiled. I was about to say something, but a sound in front of me distracted me from it. I looked at Vorren, who was approaching Shayla and me looking not very happy. I tensed again and was about to defend Shayla (for some reason I felt compelled to) when he frowned slightly.

He plopped down on the grass and stared at Shayla, who really didn't know what to do. Shoko and the others tensed as well, but Kisha just smiled and told them not to worry. Vorren looked from Shayla, to me, and then back to Shayla. He then bent forward and licked the back of her hand. This caught her by surprise, but then she smiled and scratched his head.

"Well, hello. Nice to see you don't have a stick up you butt," she said playfully. His frown turned upwards a bit and then he looked at me.

His smirk broke into a smile as he crouched down on the ground in front of me. Unbeknownst to me, a smile of my own grew on my face. I knew what he was doing. It was an old game we used to play. I crouched down as well. At this, he scooted his butt into the air, and I did the same. Then he tackled me, and the wrestling match began.

I had never loved anything more than the memory of my brother and I playing out in the open fields when we were children. The sweet scents of the flowers, the soft feel of the grass, the cool air. It was one of the things that allowed my sanity while with my first trainer. And now, I was with him again, like it used to be when the family hadn't been torn apart by the humans.

I had never felt happier…

-------------

It was dusk and we were all crowded into my brother and Kisha's burrow. Shoko and Amburna poked their head in through the main entrance, and Saji poked hi in through the back way. Shayla sat outside, and Tai and I were in the burrow with my brother and Kisha. Thanks to the small, fluorescent mushrooms and mold within the burrow, we could see each other in the dim light. Vorren handed each pokemon present some ratata meat -an absol favorite. I gulped it down gluttonously, as did Tai, and the others ate theirs with patience. After the treat, I looked up to Vorren.

"So are you storing up for the big storm coming?" I asked, and my brother nodded.

"Yeah. It feels like a really big one, so we've had to stock up more than usual. I've talked to Dad about it, you know he's more adept at feeling these things than I am, and he said that it would last a few days, even a week! No prey will be out, at least not anything good, so we've had to stash some away in the cold hole."

Tai turned to me. "Cold hole?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Whenever a rather… strong storm blows in, absols like to stock up on meat, just in case. But of course, meat spoils easily so what absols like to do is dig a hole and put ice and such in it and put a rock over the mouth of the hole, to keep it cold. Then, when the meat's in there, it won't spoil as easily."

Tai nodded. "That makes sense."

Vorren nodded too. "Yup. Which is how we store so much meat at a time." He then paused. "But… I'm not so sure about this storm," he said quietly. I cocked my head and paid more attention to the ripples in the air. It didn't really FEEL different than any other storm I've been through, but it did feel… a little strange.

"What do you mean?" Amburna asked softly. "What's wrong with it?"

Kisha, who had been very quiet next to Vorren, spoke. "It… seems to have a will of its own, like it's controlled by something. I would say Lugia or Mewtwo are possibilities, but I can't recall anything major that would anger them into conjuring a storm. The balance of the three legendary birds Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos hasn't changed. Nothing has, except for this storm."

Vorren looked at us all. "I want you all to be careful, all right? I don't like the feel of this storm. I don't like it at all. It's a ways away, but that gives you time to prepare. I would hate for one of you to get caught in a storm that feels like what this one does. It's not a Nature-made storm… it's made by something else. It feels ominous."

Tai turned to me uncertainly. "Do you think that too, Demi?" I looked back at him, and. After some consideration, I nodded. His face fell and he looked sick.

Vorren smiled. "Now, off of that subject. I think your human needs some sleep, it's very late for her, I'm sure. She's not nocturnal. Why don't you find a place to sleep? There's a town not too far from here that would be more than happy to give you some room, I'm sure."

I smiled and went up to my brother. I locked scythes with him, and then Kisha in the formal way to say good bye. Tai somehow managed to make it up the burrow with the help of Shoko pulling him up, and I jumped easily out. Vorren poked his head out and swung his scythe around, a kind of wave to say good bye. I did the same to him, and we then headed to Fortree City.

---------

It was late and we were sleeping in the Pokemon center. Well, everyone else was, save for me. I had the top bunk to sleep on, but I didn't feel like sleeping at the moment. My mind was keeping me up.

While I was musing, a dark dog-like figure stepped out of the shadow of the wall and transformed into a smaller human shape. I uncrossed my front paws and asked, "Where have you been? Shayla's been worried."

Kaiyou looked up at me with his golden eyes. He looked tired. "No… Not after the telepathic note I sent her. She shouldn't be worried."

"Where were you?" I repeated. He looked back up at me, and smiled.

"If I told where I was, you wouldn't know. I was just… checking on something. Something that has to be monitored day and night, but I make do with what time I have. I was affixing a… a lock on what needs to be watched." He sat down on the carpeted floor and stole a pillow from Saji, who groaned and rolled over.

"Kaiyou?" I asked. He looked up again. "When… When Shayla was about to capture you… You said that you couldn't be captured. That 'he' would get mad if you did." I saw Kaiyou's body flinch slightly. "Who is 'he'?"

After a pause, he answered, "Why, 'he' is a pronoun."

My face fell. "Yes, I know that. Of whom were you speaking of when you said 'him'?"

His eyes looked about the room. "A guy I know."

I grit my teeth in frustration. "Yes, I got that. What is the name of the guy that you know?"

He sighed and lay down on the floor. "You know, Demi, I'm not going to lie to you." He then rolled over and said nothing more.

I growled and picked up a pillow with my teeth and threw it at him. "What's his name?!" I whispered harshly.

"Who?" Kaiyou asked groggily.

I slammed my paw down on the bed. "Whoever you were talking about when Shayla was about capture you!"

I felt the wood beneath me jump. Tai had kicked my bed. I heard his groggy voice from below me, "Shut up will you? People are trying to sleep!"

I rolled my eyes and focused back on Kaiyou, who was staring at me with a look of mischief in his eyes. I glared. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm not planning on it. Even if I did tell you, what good would it do you or I? There's no point in telling you. You wouldn't know who he was if I did. No, I think you being oblivious to the knowledge of his existence is fine for now."

He rolled over and took the pillow I had thrown at him and put it under his head. He then sighed happily and pleasantly bid me good night.

I grumbled under my breath and laid my head on my paws. I was now determined to find out who this "he" was and know why Kaiyou was so reluctant to talk about "him".

My face formed a smile. Yes… I would just have to corner Kaiyou and get him to tell me.

I should have known this would be much easier said than done…

----------------

Yay! A nice, long chapter for you! ::smiles:: Tee hee, Kaiyou's not going to give in very easily, I can tell you that!

I'm sad, the main character in one of my favorite mangas died… HE DIED!! WAAH!! And my fish is named the same as him… So I was like, "Rain-Rain!" and I went to Rainy's fish tank and made sure he was okay. When he saw me, he wanted food and went to the top, but since I had already fed him, I ignored him and read the rest of the manga.

If any of you know what I am talking about, then…

WAAAAAAAH!!!! RAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIINNNNNN!!!!!!!!

::cries big tears of sorrow::

::sniffle:: Ja ne…


	14. Interrogations

January 12th is now a day to mourn, for it is the day that my red beta Sheik died. I'm sorta used to it by now, since my fish die about every other month. Though, unlike my other fish, I have no idea how he died. He didn't break his neck, catch ick or tail rot disease… The morning of his death, he didn't eat much, but he was still lively. About at ten that night, his stomach (or what I assume to be his stomach) was gigantic. I had never seen it that big. And he was pale. Very, very pale. It was as if he were turning white or something. Instead of red, he was pink.

And then, when I got him in the net, he started having convulsions. I decided to get him out of water and let him die. He looked like he was in pain while still in the water. So… yeah. I want to know what killed him so I can take measures to make sure Rain doesn't suffer the same fate.

Anyway, sorry you have to endure that. Oh well. I have a huge headache right now, and the klacking of the keys really isn't helping, but I suddenly got inspiration to write out of nowhere, so here I am, writing even though it's killing me.

You had better be grateful.

**Price for Freedom**

**Chapter 14**

**Interrogations**

I assumed I had fallen asleep and was now dreaming, because I stood on a barren mountainside in the dark. My feet didn't seem to obey my orders, so I let them take me where they wanted. My eyes were soon greeted by a friendly glow from a fire, and not too far away I noticed that there was a large statue with spindly spires in the distance. My feet decided to go near it instead of the fire, to which I objected. The statue didn't feel right.

However, my feet didn't cooperate and kept on pushing me to the statue. As I was going, I heard gruff, male human voices in the direction of the fire.

"That beast has got to go- it's evil," one voice said.

"Yes, it will unleash the evil within the tomb while we sleep at night!" another, younger one said.

"Quiet!" another said in a harsh whisper. "The beast will hear you. Now, here is what we must do…"

Unfortunately, I didn't hear what they had to do, because my feet had taken me too far away to hear. Instead of the shushed, gruff men's voices, I heard lofty, feminine, telepathic laughter and… a familiar voice.

My feet had taken me atop a large boulder, where I now could see the statue almost clearly. It was unnerving, and I suddenly had the instinct to run. But my feet remained planted, so I stood and watched what went on before me**.-Kaiyou!-** the feminine voice chirped.** -Elder brother, where are you?-**

Kaiyou?_ I thought. Then, a sleek, manila-colored, dog-like pokemon rushed out from behind the statue. Her figure looked insanely like Kaiyou's, except less bulky and her legs were longer. Her feet and tip of her tail were dark brown, and the scruff of her neck was as black as Kaiyou's pelt at her forehead, but then gradually turned into the creamy color of her body at her shoulder blades. The tips of her ears were also the same color as her feet and tail. She was magnificent. _

Then, Kaiyou in his true form -looking much younger than I remembered him at the moment- jumped out from the shadows and pinned the other dog-like creature down on the ground. **(Ha! Got ya, Yasille! You really suck at this game, don't ya?)**

She giggled and pushed him lightly, which made him retreat. -**I suppose,-** she said in a light-hearted manner. **-But I'll beat you one day, elder brother!-** She began to laugh again, when suddenly, she stopped.

Kaiyou's ears raised. **(What is it? What's wrong?)** he asked. The cream-colored creature, Yasille, turned her head in the direction of the fire and men.

**-They're coming…-** she said with fear in her telepathic voice, -**They're coming with murder in the minds! Kaiyou, they want to kill you!-**

Kaiyou growled. **(Pah. The ignorant humans… Let them come! Tonight, I shall make them pay for their insolence!)** He began to go down the trail that I had come up, but Yasille blocked his path.

**-NO!-** She cried. **-You can't! I… I can't see what will happen! Kaiyou, I think they'll kill you if you fight them! You can't go down there!-**

Kaiyou shook his head. **(And if I don't, then they may unlock Kuvai. You know I can't allow that. Kuvai can't be awoken. Yasille, you need to go. I don't want you getting hurt.)**

Yasille shook her head violently. **-NEVER! I can't abandon you to these humans!-**

Kaiyou growled and then snapped at her. **(Leave! Or must I fight you, too?)**

Yasille sighed and then began to run the other way. **-Be careful, brother.-** Then, in a flash of brilliant light, she disappeared. My eyes turned back to Kaiyou, who was standing in front of the strange statue. The humans had now gathered around him in a semi-circle, keeping him in one spot with their primitive-looking spears and knives.

Kaiyou growled. **(Why do you come? Must you endanger yourselves and others by coming to this place?!)**

The first man who had talked at the fire spat on the ground. "To kill you, creature of Hell! We know you'll kill us the first opportunity you get with the fiend within the Tomb! You're the one that's endangering our lives!"

The Dark Legendary looked shocked. **(How foolish can you be? I'm PROTECTING you from what lives in here! It can't be disturbed!)**

They began to argue more, but then, my eyes went to the top of the statue, where I saw a silhouette creeping along the roof. I gasped. That was a human! I looked down and saw Kaiyou, who was engrossed in his argument. I looked back to the human and saw his weapon -a grossly wicked scythe. I could smell the poison it was steeped in.

I tried to call out to Kaiyou, but my voice wouldn't come. I stood there, frozen in fear and watching with some morbid fascination as the human crept and crept until he could dive onto Kaiyou and stab at the Dark Legendary's long and vulnerable neck.

The human on the ground arguing with Kaiyou then let out a shrieking howl, which seemed to be a signal of attack since the human on the roof dived down and stabbed Kaiyou in the back of his neck.

The pain was immense. It burned its way all across my body, and if I had been able to yell, my cry would have been smothered by the shriek Kaiyou made. I looked up and saw that he was down on the ground, the scythe securely in his neck. Yet, he was still alive, for he tried to bite the humans nearby. However, they jumped back and began to stab him with their spears.

I felt pain again and again. It was if they were stabbing me instead of Kaiyou ten feet away. I began to thrash, and I tried to run away. Then, darkness engulfed me, and I felt suffocated. I couldn't breathe. Panic ran through my body, and I tried to get air. I tried to find the surface of the murky ocean I was trapped in, but I couldn't. My claws found nothing but the same darkness, nothing to let me breathe.

tome do kuvai… seshu tesh na reckal… ameba to nil rods…

It was at that moment I heard something strange, a chanting of some foreign language I had never heard before. It was soft at first, but then it grew louder and louder until my ears began ringing as loud as the chanting. My head throbbed. My lungs burned. And I knew that I had to be dying.

Then, horribly sharp claws clamped onto the sides of my body and pulled me down. I tried to scream, but I was out of air. I felt some of the claws move from my chest and then tightened onto my neck. I opened my eyes and saw bright, malicious, crimson eyes. My heart sputtered in horror. The eyes shone so brightly in front of me, I saw the thing's teeth illuminated near my neck.

Then, it spoke.

I AM KUVAI, THE DARK SHADOW POKEMON, CREATOR OF THE DUSKULL AND DUSCLOPS, CONSUMER OF HUMAN SOULS. IN LIFE, I WAS BUGANTI, A MIGHTY GROUND TYPE LEGENDARY. BUT THAT WAS 10,000 YEARS AGO, WHEN HUMANS BEGAN ARRIVING. IN DEATH, I AM A MERE SHADOW OF MY FORMER SELF, CAPABLE OF ANYTHING, EVEN DESTROYING THIS PITIFUL PLANET. AWAKEN ME, AND THE HUMAN RACE SHALL PAY.

I saw the teeth move closer to my neck, and I screamed.

I started in my bunk, and realized that I had actually been dreaming. I was panting, sweating, and my voice was hoarse. I looked frantically around the room and saw Shayla, Tai, and everyone else looking at me with worry. "Demi, what happened?" Shayla asked worriedly. I didn't answer her, and then Tai jumped onto my bunk and poked me with his paw.

"Demi, you're shaking. Are you alright?" he asked. At his remark, I looked down and saw my legs trembling. I tried to make them stop, but they wouldn't. I shook myself and then jumped down from my bunk.

"I…" I said shakily, "I'm fine. Really. D-don't worry about me. I'll… I'll be fine." I walked to the door of our room and looked to my left and saw Kaiyou sitting on the bottom bunk, looking pale. At a closer look I saw his arms shaking as much as my own legs had. I narrowed my eyes and looked into his pale face. His eyes met mine, and he seemed to say a silent apology.

So… had I just dreamed one of his dreams?

He looked away from me and walked to the window. I set a frown on my face and swore to myself to find out who and what this "Kuvai" thing was. By the look in Kaiyou's face, I was certain that he knew.

------

The first time I tried to pry the information out of him was that morning, after we had eaten and set out for the next city. He was in his human form, walking slowly and calmly ahead of the main bulk of the group. Tai came up to my side with a worried expression on his face.

"Hey, Demi, are you sure you're okay?" At my puzzled expression, he explained. "It seemed like you were having a hell of a nightmare last night." He leaned closer to me. "What was it about?"

I had no intention of telling him what it was about. After all, I didn't understand most of it myself, and I felt compelled to keep it a secret until I could make sense out of it. I knew I had to talk to Kaiyou before I could tell anyone. So, I made something else up.

"Well, Tai…" I began, "It was about… machamp."

He blinked. "What?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah. There was a whole army of them, and they were moving to attack me. That's pretty much all of it."

His eyebrow went up. "I seriously doubt that even an army of machamp could make you scream the way you did."

My face flushed. "I… screamed?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It was really creepy -because that's what woke me up. And it was coming from you… and it sounded… strange… like you were terrified of something." He shuddered. "Damn, that was a blood-curdling scream…"

I looked at his face, and then down at my feet as I walked. He… really sounded concerned about me. I seriously considered telling him what my dream was about, until…

"I think I know what you're dream was about…" he said coyly. My head snapped to his direction, and the evil smirk he wore grew.

"Oh yes," he continued. "I know what it was about."

My heart went faster. I didn't really know why I was afraid if he knew, but that was how I felt. I dreaded what his next words might be.

He closed his eyes and lifted his head. "You dreamt of a life without my presence, didn't you?" he asked. I nearly stumbled in my walking. "I can see it, Demi," he continued. "You can't stand to be without me. Really, I'm flattered, but seriously, I'm not going anywhere. You have nothing to fear."

I growled and shoved him into a murky stream nearby. "Thanks for the reassurance," I mumbled. I ignored Tai's calls as I walked on and then cursed whatever deity was responsible for ever thinking of testosterone.

------

It was a little later in the morning, and I was walking silently beside Kaiyou. Then Shayla told us she had to "do her business" and would be gone for a while. So, Kaiyou climbed up a tree (without much grace, I should add) and I sat down at the base of the trunk.

"Who is Kuvai?" I asked quietly. He looked down at me, and I saw in his eyes there was something that was troubling him. Something that he wanted to tell me. But in an instant that look was replaced by feigned ignorance.

"Kuvai?" he asked. "Never heard of him." Then, he added a little louder, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Tai was there in an instant, almost as if Kaiyou had proclaimed that he had conjured food. Tai looked at me eagerly. "You have a boyfriend?! Sweet! Who is he?"

My mouth flustered for a moment, and before I could proclaim my innocence of the charge, Kaiyou supplied, "This dude named Kuvai," he supplied and then Tai began asking me question after question. Unfortunately, this made me incapable of asking Kaiyou about Kuvai, and he knew it, too. During Tai's interrogation, I looked up at Kaiyou angrily, and he smiled and leaned back on the tree branch he was sitting on.

------

My second attempt was during lunch. I had gotten my food, as had everyone else. They were all eating hungrily, and then a plan formed in my head. I deserted my own bowl and snatched Kaiyou's sandwich and ran off with it.

"Ayako!" he cried, "Give me back my sandwich!" He got up and began to run after me, but I was faster and quickly escaped him. When we were deep in the brush, I said softly, "I'll give you your sandwich back if you tell me who Kuvai is."

Panting, he shook his head. "No. I have a better idea…" He walked out of the brush, and then called to the camp, "Tai! Demi says she doesn't want her food and that you can have it!"

I heard a "sweet!" in the distance and I cried, "NO!" I abandoned the sandwich and ran to my bowl of food to try and salvage whatever I could. However, Tai had already eaten it when I got there. I cursed and then turned and saw Kaiyou with his sandwich in his hands, carefully brushing it off. He smiled and bit into his sandwich, and then I stormed off into the brush and hoped I could find something edible.

I hate men.

-----

By this time, I was desperate. I wanted to know who Kuvai was, why he was trying to eat me in my dream, and what the strange statue was. I was fresh out of ideas, and so I decided to drop even lower and beg Kaiyou for information.

Shayla had eaten some bad berries and was now dealing with them in the underbrush with Amburna trying to settle her stomach down. From the gagging noises I heard, there wasn't much success. So, with my mind set, I stormed up to Kaiyou (who was happily sitting in a tree) and stared up at him with determination etched on my face.

He looked down and asked pleasantly, "May I help you?"

My face changed from determined to pleading. I bowed and asked, "Oh, your Mighty Worship, please, PLEASE divulge your infinite knowledge to this lowly, undeserving servant of yours!"

When I looked up, he was smiling. "You want to know who 'Kuvai' is, don't you?"

My face broke into a smile. "Yes!" I exclaimed, and then his own smile broadened.

He sighed and then said, "Ah, my humble servant, bring me some fresh spring water and then I will contemplate your request." My smile and heart fell.

"What?" I asked, and he looked down at me, the smile still on his face.

"Yes, you see, your Master of Infinite Knowledge, Wisdom and Power is thirsty, but doesn't want to get out of his tree, so could you, humble, humble servant, fetch him some?" His face was still in the same smile as before. He was serious. "While you are away, I shall think upon your question and if I should answer it or not."

I left with no intention of "fetching him fresh spring water." I grumbled under my breath as I left, and paid no heed to the requests for ice with his fresh spring water.

I walked back into camp and saw Shayla lying on a rock, groaning with Amburna beside her, who was stroking the human's stomach gently. A bucket that reeked of vomit lay beside the dragonair. And, at that moment, I discovered where to find my "Master of Knowledge, Wisdom and Power" some fresh water.

I happily trotted over to the icebox, retrieved some ice cubes, dumped them into the vomit bucket, and then picked said bucket up via my teeth and the bucket's handle. I then added some water to dullen the stench, and squirted some freshener that Shayla kept onto the mouth of the bucket. It now smelt like flowery vomit instead of just plain vomit. I then grabbed a cloth and placed it over the top of the bucket to top it off. I smiled. My creation was complete. Amburna looked at me strangely.

"Are you so hungry as to eat THAT?" she asked incredulously. I put the bucket down lightly on the ground. "You do know what that is, don't you?" the dragonair asked. I nodded.

"Oh, I know exactly what it is," I replied. "It isn't for me, but for my 'Master of Knowledge, Wisdom and Power'." I then picked the bucket back up and left the dragonair completely befuddled.

I reached Kaiyou's tree and he looked down at me in surprise. I guessed he hadn't expected me to return. I looked up at him pleasantly, and scooted the bucket towards him. "I have retrieved your fresh spring water, oh Master," I reported pleasantly. Kaiyou blinked, then smiled and then jumped down from his perch on the tree. He picked up the bucket and said, "Thank you, humble servant. You have done your Master proud." He then lifted the cloth, and then nearly gagged.

I saw my chance and then headbutted the bucket, sending Shayla's rotten berries and breakfast all over him. I laughed triumphantly and ran off, leaving my angry Master behind. I was laughing so hard, I didn't hear his curses as I ran out of the brush.

Even though I hadn't gotten any information out of him, I had a lot of fun. My plan for revenge had wonderfully succeeded. Tai looked at me strangely as I reentered camp, laughing the way I was. Kaiyou showed up a minute earlier with Shayla's tossed cookies all over his shirt, angrier than I had ever seen him. At seeing his face, I laughed again, and he threw a stick at me, but missed. Shayla saw him and then began to vomit again, to which Amburna sighed and asked for another bucket.

-------

Kaiyou had bathed for about two hours when Shayla was feeling good enough to walk again. He had saved his pants, but his shirt was completely gone. He decided against walking around in his true form because we were about to come up on a little town, and he feared that the public might try to capture him. He also didn't want to go inside his ultra ball -to which we all understood why- so he borrowed one of Shayla's denim over-shirts as we went through the town. For the whole time we were walking through town, he refused to talk to me.

After about an hour in the town, I asked meekly, "Heh, um… sorry about your shirt."

"I liked that shirt," he said tersely.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah… um…"

"What?" he asked a little harshly. "I'm not about to tell you about Kuvai. No. I told you before, you're perfectly fine with not knowing of his existence. And I'm not going to reveal his identity in this public place, out where anyone can hear me."

I blinked. "So Kuvai… is he the thing that you visited last night? The thing that has to be monitored?"

He didn't say anything for a moment. "Don't worry about it right now. Just…" He sighed and put his head in his hand. "Please… don't bombard me with questions right now. I'm not in the mood the answer them."

He walked off and I stood there in the middle of the street, confused. Was this Kuvai person really so terrible to talk about? My face went to determination and I vowed to interrogate him that night, and I swore to myself that I would know everything Kaiyou knew about Kuvai.

------

I decided to confront him on the matter when it became dusk of that night. We had already eaten supper and I had beaten Tai into the ground about twenty times because he wouldn't stop making fun of me because I had a nightmare (about him leaving me, apparently.) Kaiyou was in human form, (in his new white, button-down, collared shirt that Shayla had bought him) lounging in a tree overlooking a high cliff. There was a waterfall nearby, so the air was cool and sweet. There were flowers blooming around my feet, and there was a full moon tonight. It was truly beautiful.

I shook that thought out of my head and placed my front paws on the tree and began to talk a bit forcefully. "Kaiyou, I know there's something you're not telling me, and I know that I had the same dream you had last night." He looked at me, but said nothing. "WHO is Kuvai?!" I demanded.

He looked down at his hands for a moment, then back to the cliff. " 'I am Kuvai, the Shadow Pokemon, Creator of the duskull and dusclops, Consumer of human souls.' " My heart skipped a beat. That was what the thing in my dream said! " 'In Life, I was Buganti, a mighty ground Legendary. But that was 10,000 years ago, when humans began arriving. In Death, I am a mere shadow of my former self, capable of anything, even destroying this pitiful planet. Awaken me, and the human race shall pay.' " He looked back to me. " 'Tome do kuvai… seshu tesh na reckal… ameba to nil rods…' "

My lower jaw shook as I began my sentence. "H-how… How do you know that?! Are… Are YOU Kuvai?!" The possibility that he was the thing in my dream with those merciless red eyes… it truly terrified me.

To my relief, he shook his head. "No, Ayako. I haven't lied to you about my name -I am Kaiyou. I am Kaiyou, Guardian of the Black Tomb. What you heard in your dream was an inscription upon the door of the Tomb."

"Black Tomb?" I asked, to which he nodded. "That was the statue you saw- with the spires?" My mind flashed the image of the blood red eyes and the teeth inching near to my neck. "And Kuvai… is he in the Tomb?"

Kaiyou nodded. "He is what I'm supposed to be protecting. He was what I was protecting when those humans killed me. You saw them. The bastards…" Hate filled his voice when he said the last word, but his face remained calm. He didn't say anything more, so I pressed him on.

"And… that weird language… What does it say?" Kaiyou sighed and turned back to the waterfall.

" 'We serve Kuvai… servants to the Dark one… we assist him eating you alive…' It's an ancient script of old ghost pokemon and evil spirits, who worshipped Kuvai. I suppose they've long died out since I was murdered." He jumped off of the tree and walked to its side and leaned on it. He faced away from me, and faced the sight overlooking the cliff. "When I went to the Tomb last, I couldn't smell anything remotely alive around it. I guess the humans gave up on trying to unlock it."

I blinked. _So that's where he disappeared off to…_I thought. I sat down on the soft grass and then asked him, "Why is Kuvai so evil? What made him turn into Kuvai when he was Buganti? It doesn't make sense!"

I heard Kaiyou heave another heavy sigh. I supposed he didn't like spilling his guts about something he had to keep so secret. He answered the question in my mind before I could speak it.

"I feel that I owe you something since you… shared my dream. I hate saying all that I know about Kuvai… If he were awoken, I wouldn't know what to do, but I can't leave you to share my horrors every night like I do. So, hopefully, I can give you some peace about him." He looked over his shoulder to look at me. "Kuvai… Or Buganti, since he was still alive at this time, ruled over an underground city. It's very near the Tomb, and I doubt if it's being lived in right now. The humans living there loved Buganti until a rogue came and told them that if they didn't kill Buganti soon, he would devour their children and bury them in the rubble of an earthquake. They believed the rogue and then killed Buganti in his sleep.

"I knew him then, and I feel that we were friends then. I had been away when the treachery happened, so I couldn't do anything about it. When I came back, I found him dead in his lair, freshly killed. I was furious. I killed the traitors, but still, I felt I needed to do more. I called upon Ho-Oh and told him what had happened. Ho-Oh then revived Buganti, but he was so possessed by hate, he couldn't return to his former form. So, he became Kuvai, a shadow of his former self.

"Kuvai seemed to recognize me at first, but then he tried to attack the town as soon as he saw it. Ho-Oh and I put him in a deep sleep and sealed him in his lair -the Black Tomb. We both placed lock after lock on it, and then I assigned myself to guard it, to make sure his wrath wouldn't be placed upon the innocent. I doubt if even his or my legends even exist. The scene you saw in your dream happened roughly 3500 years ago. When I went back there yesterday, three of the four locks had been undone. Without Ho-Oh's help, I can't redo them, except for a little makeshift lock."

I was stunned. I didn't really know what to think, what to say. However, my mouth was quicker than my mind. "Why couldn't you call on Ho-Oh again?"

Kaiyou laughed bitterly. "The Legendary Birds are not all what you think, Ayako. They are pompous, self-centered bastards, save for Lugia. The others all care about power and showing off that power. No, unless I had a crowd of humans and pokemon around me, he wouldn't help me again. He only did what he did 10,000 years ago so that he could get more worshippers."

"So… there's nothing you can do to make more locks?" I asked meekly. Kaiyou shook his head. I looked down to my feet, feeling a bit scared. There were only two more locks to break, and then the Black Tomb would unlock and then Kuvai himself would reek destruction upon the Hoenn region. I looked up to Kaiyou's back and asked, "So… you two were friends?"

He paused a while before answering. "I like to think that. He was my friend, but I doubt I was his. He liked to be alone, and usually couldn't stand me being around him because he told me time and time again I was annoying." I heard a light chuckle. Then, in a deeper voice, he bellowed, " 'Kaiyou, you stupid mongrel! Get away from me! No, don't you dare throw those pastries at me! Kaiyou! I'm gonna kill you!!' "

I guessed that that was Kaiyou's impersonation of Buganti, so I said, "He didn't sound like he liked you at all." Kaiyou's chuckle grew louder.

"I'm sure it does sound that way," he replied. "But of course, you never saw him after he said stuff like that. He would grumble and then I would follow behind him and then he'd look over his shoulder, see me there, and then smile a little." He paused. "But then he would whack me with his two tails."

I chuckled. I guessed, after stretching the word "friends" they were. Kaiyou turned to me and smiled. "Now, you had better get some rest. I have a feeling that we're going to be traveling quite a lot tomorrow." He walked up to me and patted me on the head. "Good night, loyal one," he said softly.

I looked up and then bowed slightly. "Good night, my Lord," I replied. I got up and walked back to camp and sat down on the soft grass underneath me. I was beside Amburna and Shoko, with the others across the way. The fire was in front of me, and I remember before falling asleep seeing two great red eyes through that fire.

------

Woot! All done with this one! I wrote it all in one day- aren't you proud of me? ::smiles:: So you now know who "he" is. Mwahahaha, more things to come!

See ya!


	15. Illauna

Hello! Sorry some of you got confused over the whole Kaiyou thing- let me explain. Yes, Team Magma revived (key word) Kaiyou, but he retained his memories, and those that didn't come back to him immediately came after a while. Team Magma didn't CREATE him, just REVIVED him. Does that make sense?

Ugh! I hate whatever sickness I have!

Disclaimer: been the same, staying the same.

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 15

Illauna

__

I was dreaming. I had to be. Otherwise, I wouldn't be seeing Kaiyou roaming around in his true form with Yasille by his side. Again, he looked rather young. If he were in his human form, I would guess that he would look sixteen or seventeen, not in his mid-twenties. The siblings looked tense. They were in front of the Black Tomb. Though, as I looked at it, it wasn't as… sinister as before. I took a closer look and saw a welcoming face on the statue. I blinked. Was it like that before Buganti was killed? I looked towards the two siblings and saw Kaiyou making his way to the statue. I followed, allowing my feet to take me where they wanted.

Instead of going through the door of the Tomb, they went around to an underground entrance. I followed slowly behind them, curious. Kaiyou began calling in the dark, dank tunnel we were traveling through. He sounded distressed.

****

(Buganti! Buganti, where are you?) he called. I listened, and heard no answer. Kaiyou called again, and Yasille shook her head helplessly.

****

-My premonition was right- she declared in pain. **-Lord, they killed him! They murdered him- **Kaiyou turned and snarled at her.

****

(No! I won't believe it! I won't believe it until I see his bloody corpse! To Hell with your premonition, I'm going to find him!) He ran off into the darkness of the tunnel, and Yasille objected.

****

-You can't! You'll kill innocents! Kaiyou- Yasille cried, but Kaiyou paid no heed to his sister.

I found myself running alongside Kaiyou. I looked up and saw his distressed face and smelt panic mingled into his scent. I fell behind a bit, and then my eyes were greeted with the light glow of fired torches. Were in a large, circular cavern, with strange-looking characters carved into the floor. I imagined they were some kind of chant that went along with Buganti, like the one that went with Kuvai. In the middle of the room was what I guessed was Buganti, except I couldn't really tell. All I knew was that it was huge, bloody and decapitated. It had spears, knives, any kind of pointy object sticking out of it. A pool of bright red blood had formed around it, and I nearly retched at the stench. Oh yes, whatever this thing was, was dead.

Kaiyou took a small step towards the hulking dead thing. **(Buganti…)** he whispered. Yasille arrived to his other side, and took a step back.

****

-Oh, no… We're too late…- she whispered, and then plopped down on the floor. She shook her head, and then kept whispering 'we're too late' over and over again. Kaiyou nuzzled his sister, and then discovered something.

I noticed them, too. Small, bloody, human-like footprints made a trail around the dead creature and led out of the cavern to another tunnel nearby. I looked at Kaiyou and saw his fur raise and his teeth bare.

****

(They killed him…) he said softly, **(The villagers… They're the ones that killed him! The bastards -THEY KILLED HIM!)** He let out a bestial roar and then ran around his friend's corpse and down the tunnel. Yasille cried for him to stop, but he didn't listen. I found myself following him down the tunnel. It opened up into another huge cavern, this one much bigger than Buganti's lair, and I saw a little city beneath me. There were people gathered in what looked like the town-square, dancing around what looked like Buganti's head on a pike, which was above a huge bonfire.

Kaiyou roared to make himself known. His howl echoed throughout the cavern, and the music and dancing stopped abruptly. From far below, I heard an old woman's voice cry, "It's the Great Black Wolf! I told you he would come if you killed the beast-god! Now he's the one that will kill us all!" She ran from outside of the town-square to an altar below where Kaiyou and I were standing.

"Please, Great Black Wolf, do not destroy this village! I know you are consumed by hate, but please! They know not what they do! They are fools! Ignorant fools! Please, spare them your wrath!"

Kaiyou snarled down at her. **(SILENCE!) **he barked, **(I don't want to hear you speak! Pray that I leave you something to live in, old crone! These traitors will PAY for their insolent crimes! I'll kill them! I'll kill every last ONE!) **With that, he howled and then dove down to the city's level and began destroying anything that came within range of his jaws. Many tried to defend themselves against the Dark Legendary, but none prevailed. Kaiyou threw mixtures of sediment and human being into the walls of the cavern, he fed the fire with human flesh, and, to make sure no traitor left, he used a psychic wave throughout the entire cavern, destroying everything in its path. The old woman who had pled with him was still on the altar, shaking. Kaiyou turned to her, panting.

The old woman began to wail in such a sad voice, I myself almost cried. Her voice was the single sound throughout the cavern, and it echoed into the other walls of the cave, almost making it stronger. Kaiyou's hindquarters buckled beneath him and he fell to the destroyed floor adjacent to the bonfire. He looked up and saw Buganti's huge head upon the pike, and sighed. He picked himself up, took the pike with his teeth, and softly put it on the floor away from the fire. Yasille then arrived beside me, and she began to softly weep.

****

-Kaiyou… How could you…- she asked softly of her brother. Kaiyou didn't answer. Instead, he picked the pike up again, and half carried it, half dragged it to the ledge Yasille and I were standing on. When he arrived at the altar the woman was standing on, he paused, and then put the pike down. He then leaned a little closer to the old woman.

She recoiled away from him. "No… I had nothing to do with it! Please, don't kill me! I didn't want Buganti killed! He was a good caretaker! I don't know why they believed the rogue!" She was weeping uncontrollably now. Tears were streaming down her face like rainfall. "Please! Please… I didn't… I didn't…"

Kaiyou didn't make a move. **(What rogue…?) **he asked softly. This seemed to reassure the woman a bit, and her body relaxed by a hair.

"A rogue came to our city not two days ago -while you were still away. I don't know his name… he never told us. All he kept on saying was that Buganti was evil -that we had to kill him as soon as possible before he killed us while we slept. I tried to tell them 'No! He's been good to us for as long as this city's been alive! He wouldn't do that!' They didn't listen… They didn't listen! Then, last night, they moved and struck! They killed him as he slept -they knew not much could wake him up if they were quiet enough. Then, they killed him and the rogue disappeared after they killed Buganti. I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry…"

Kaiyou blinked and then picked up the pike again. **(I'm sorry too… Please, for your own sake, get out of here. There's nothing for you here now. I've made sure of that.) **he said bitterly, and then hopped up the ledge, leaving the old woman to decide what to do with herself.

I assumed time passed, because now I was in Buganti's lair with Yasille at my right side and Kaiyou at my left. Ho-Oh, in all his glory and magnificence, stood before me looking perturbed.

****

:Tell me, Darkling: he said in slight disgust, **:Why should I revive him? Many pokemon are murdered by their trainers every day -should I revive them as well? I cannot treat anyone with special treatment in death. That would upset the balance, as you of all people should know.:**

(Ho-Oh,) Kaiyou said wearily, **( I know this, as you say. But… I know that it wasn't the right time. It wasn't his time to die!)**

:And how do you know this: the phoenix Legendary asked with a sneer in his telepathic voice. **:Did your sister see it in one of her "visions":** Kaiyou snarled at the comment.

****

(How dare you mock her!) Kaiyou cried. **(One of her "visions" is what led me here to find him dead!)**

Ho-Oh looked down at Kaiyou. **:I would be careful if I were you, Darkling. You are asking for my help, and it would not be wise to anger or insult me.:**

Kaiyou snarled. **(I am not trying to do so. I plead, I beg of you to be good enough to revive him. It was not his time to die!)**

Ho-Oh tossed his head. **:And who are you to judge this? Are you the deity that decides when every pokemon and human dies:**

Yasille growled, which surprised me. **-Don't mock my brother! If I recall correctly, my brother helped you win a battle against Moltres! If not for him, you would have lost many worshippers that day, and would have been humiliated by Moltres. Do you wish that to happen again-**

Kaiyou's eyebrows raised and Ho-Oh growled. **:Fine, I'll revive the beast. Move over so I can do my work.:**

Ho-Oh scooted near the corpse of Buganti and began to glow red. The decapitated head reattached itself to its body, and the eyes opened. I retreated from the living corpse, but Kaiyou took a step forward.

****

(Buganti? Buganti?) he called. The beast blinked its pasty eyes, and lifted its head. Ho-Oh stopped glowing and took a step back to examine his work. Yasille's eyes grew wide and she began to shake her head.

****

-No! This isn't right! Something's wrong! Something's wrong- she cried. Kaiyou looked back at her, confused.

****

(Yasille, What are you talking about?) Yasille was about to reply, but Buganti interrupted her.

****

"Kai…you…" _the great beast whispered. Kaiyou looked to his revived friend in hope, but Yasille took another fearful step back. Buganti saw her, and his alligator-like face broke into a smile. _**"Yasille! How I have longed to see you!" **_He began to walk towards her, but then he caught a glimpse of the tunnel to the destroyed underground city. His eyes flashed red for an instant. My own eyes widened. The red eyes he had right then were in my other dream._

****

"The… city…" _he whispered. Kaiyou suddenly found the danger in Buganti's awakening, and he put himself between the un-dead beast and the ruined city._

****

(Buganti, my friend, you can't look at it! It'll-)

Buganti swung himself around and slammed his two twin tails against Kaiyou's body, which sent the Dark Legendary into a cavern wall. Yasille ran to her brother, and she looked fearfully to Buganti. The beast roared and then began to speak in a strange language in rage. Kaiyou looked to his friend in horror. **(Buganti, stop!) **he cried.

Buganti didn't listen. Instead, his body began to flinch and was ravaged by convulsions. Ho-Oh flew back from the beast, and then shouted in hate, **:You see what you have wished for? Your "friend" is consumed by hate! He cannot return to his earthly form:**

I looked back from Ho-Oh to Buganti, who collapsed to the floor. I then saw a shadowy figure rise up from Buganti's back, and Yasille hid behind her brother. The shadowy figure then took a semi-solid form and glanced around the room with his malicious red eyes.

And then he looked straight at me. I forgot about the rest of his shadowy figure and stared in horror at his eyes, which bore into me. Then, I was back in the murky ocean and then the claws grabbed me again.

I screamed.

-

It was the next day and we had gotten out of the wilderness and into civilization. We were now strolling about Mauville City, and then something made me a tad nervous.

We had heard on some passerby's radio that the media had caught wind of Kaiyou's existence and apparently, practically every trainer wanted to catch him. The said Legendary was walking along with us in his human form. Some trainers were somewhat smart and kept their dark pokemon out to try and fish out the Dark Legendary. However, Kaiyou was confident in the fact that the trainers weren't as smart as to suspect a human of being a pokemon, and Shayla had to agree with him. So, instead of being safe in his ultra ball, he was strolling about in the open with the rest of us.

Many dark pokemon noticed us as we walked into town and almost tackled Kaiyou out of sheer joy. I thanked the other Legendaries that most of them were on leashes. However, one houndoom got away from his trainer and began to lick Kaiyou like the Dark Legendary was made of peanut butter.

"Gah!" Kaiyou sputtered out as the houndoom licked his face and neck. I saw a trainer -a "cool" trainer from the looks of it, run up and returned the houndoom to his poke ball.

"I'm sorry, man," the boy apologized. He took Kaiyou's hand and pulled the Legendary up. "I don't know what got into him! Are you all right?"

Kaiyou nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about what happened, it happens all the time. I'm used to it by now." The two shook hands and then we went about our way, leaving the trainer in utter confusion about what happened. Tai snickered.

"Man, these guys really ARE stupid!" he whispered to me in delight. "Here Kaiyou is, standing right out in the open, and the pokemon recognize him, but none of the humans have the wits to see what their pokemon see!" He laughed. "This is great!"

Kaiyou wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. "For you maybe," he said in a hushed tone. "But this is insane for me. I hope nothing big tries to greet me, like a tyranitar."

Tai laughed. "Oh MAN! That would be funny as hell. I wonder what it would do first, tackle you down and lick you or give you a bear hug?"

Kaiyou shuddered. "Don't even talk like that…"

We found an open-air restaurant and sat down. Kaiyou ordered some chesto and pecha berry pie (to which I drooled) and Shayla and he began to talk.

"Um…" Shayla tapped Kaiyou's arm. "I don't think I can call you by your real name," she whispered. "What should I call you?"

He thought. "Lord and Master of the Universe," he replied with a straight face.

Shayla's face fell. "Seriously."

Kaiyou sighed. "Oh, fine. Be that way. Call me… Ishmael."

Shayla rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. "Why do you have to be like this?"

Kaiyou cocked his head innocently. "Why, be like what?"

Shayla didn't really respond. She just sighed deeply and then put her hand over her eyes. I supposed she wasn't quite ready for the real Kaiyou.

Kaiyou smiled triumphantly and relaxed into his own chair. I began to smile myself- it was good to see Kaiyou relax like this. From what I experienced for the last two nights, he really couldn't afford to. Not with the Black Tomb to guard. And to think he had to watch a friend of his turn into a hideous, blood thirsty monster… I turned to my other comrades and tried to imagine the same thing happen to them. I couldn't.

Suddenly, a sneasel jumped up from out of nowhere and clamped onto the back of Kaiyou's head. At first, Kaiyou didn't seem to notice. And then, after a few seconds, he tentatively put a hand to the back of his head to feel the sneasel. When his hand touched the sneasel, she happily licked Kaiyou's hand, which gave the Dark Legendary a start.

"There's a sneasel growing out of the back of your head," Tai commented. Kaiyou gave the jolteon a stale look and then pulled the sneasel off of the back of his head and looked at her.

The sneasel chirped in delight, somehow escaped from Kaiyou's grasp, and then attached herself to Kaiyou's lower torso. The Dark Legendary looked at her in question, and then I began to feel rumbling vibrations in the ground.

In question, I looked around and saw what looked like a mountain heading toward us. "Oh, shit," Tai muttered, and Kaiyou looked down at him in question. Tai merely pointed to the rushing mound of rocky mass, and Kaiyou's eyes got really wide.

The tyranitar put his arms around Kaiyou and lifted the Dark Legendary up in joy. Kaiyou coughed weakly and tried to struggle out of the tyranitar's grip, but to no avail. Tai was rolling on the ground, laughing his spiky yellow head off.

I assumed Kaiyou was trying to threaten Tai, but the tyranitar's Vulcan Death Grip was cutting off the Dark Legendary's air supply. I began to laugh myself, and Kaiyou glared down at me. Of course, that only made me laugh harder since his face was getting so blue.

"Gruzog!" I turned to the sound of the feminine voice and saw a girl run up to us. She had semi-long black hair, which she wore down, and had on a black leather jacket, black jeans and a black undershirt. I mentally guessed what her favorite color was.

She put her hands on the tyranitar's rocky side. "Gruzog, put him down! You'll suffocate him!" The tyranitar, Gruzog, a little surprised by the news, looked down at his catch and stared at Kaiyou's purple face. Gruzog immediately let him go, to which the Dark Legendary collapsed to the concrete. The girl began to ramble an apology as Kaiyou remembered how to breathe.

"Oh my Gosh, I am just so sorry! He's never done anything like this! I mean, sure, he's gentle, but he's never bear-hugged a complete stranger before! I don't know what's gotten into him! And Segalla too! She's usually shy towards strangers…" I looked up at her and saw a blank expression on her face. She was staring at Kaiyou. My heart quickened. _Did she figure it out?_ my mind asked frantically. I followed the direction of her stare and saw that she was looking at the black symbol on his forehead that was slightly revealed through a gap in his black bangs.

Her expression went from blank to suspicious. "What's that on your forehead, sir?"

Kaiyou looked up and pointed to his forehead. "Oh, this? A tattoo I got while I had too much sake in my blood," he said coolly. He got off of the ground and then sat back down in his chair. "Though, I don't see why it concerns you, miss. It's a bit rude to ask things like that."

Her face changed again, from suspicious to apologetic. "Oh, forgive me! I'm sorry!" She bowed, and then looked back up. "May I… know your names?"

Shayla spoke first. "Of course. I'm Shayla, the jolteon is Tai," Tai jumped in the air excitedly, "the absol is Demi," I nodded my head, "the charizard is Shoko," Shoko happily growled, "the dragonair is Amburna," Amburna waved with her tail, "and the man in front of you is K… Ishmael."

The girl nodded. "My name is Illauna. Pleasure to meet you all. The tyranitar is Gruzog, and the sneasel is Segalla. Though, I have to wonder, what kind of trainer are you, Ishmael, to attract the attention of my Dark pokemon when we were so far away?"

Kaiyou smiled. "I'm a Dark trainer, and I guess I have a… an aura that Dark Pokemon like."

Illauna cocked her head. "Is that so? My pokemon have been around hundreds of Dark trainers, and they never acted like this. Why now, for you?"

Kaiyou shrugged. "I'm special."

Then, I saw something catch Kaiyou's eyes. I followed his stare and saw that he was looking at Illauna's waist, where her other poke balls were. I saw his eyebrow lift and say, "Illauna, tell me… what other pokemon do you have with you? And how, exactly, did you get them?" He looked up at her with a well-hidden menacing expression.

She didn't retreat. "Well, I will tell you, Kaiyou, when you tell me how you're pulling off an illusion like this."

I gasped. She figured it out! I looked to Kaiyou, who's expression didn't change. Instead of freaking out like the rest of us were, he merely smiled. "Very good. There is some hope for the human race after all. I will tell you how I'm 'pulling off this illusion' as you proclaim, when you tell me how you captured Raikou and Articuno." He lifted his head and then sniffed. "I also smell Regice and Moltres on you. Have you come here for the other Hoenn Legendaries? Perhaps to complete your collection?"

Illauna's eyebrow lifted and Shayla cleared her throat. "Not to ruin the mood, but I think we should discuss this in a more… private place. I doubt either of you would want any of this information to leak."

They nodded. Kaiyou got up and lead the way into the nearby route to Verdanturf town, but before he did, I saw a glare in his eyes directed towards Illauna.

-

"Alright girl, spill it," Kaiyou demanded harshly as soon as we were in the privacy of the forest. "How the hell did you capture Raikou, Articuno and the others? Raikou especially. Previously, I had highly doubted that there was a competent enough trainer that could actually catch one Legendary, much less four."

Illauna looked up at him innocently. "I would think you would have known. I am Illauna. I've made a pact with the Legendaries: if I can capture them, I trainer them until they're at their highest potential and then release them back into the wild. What I get in return is info for my Pokedex and the chance to actually train the Legendaries." She took a sip of water from a water bottle. "This is to make sure they can't be captured again. I would have thought the others would have informed you."

He raised the corner of his lip in a very wolfish manner. "I've been dead for 3500 years -I haven't caught up with everything yet, apparently."

She looked at him coolly. "I know. I've read your legends. How you were protecting the Black Tomb until a group of humans ambushed you."

Kaiyou glared. "Where, exactly, did you find this?"

She smiled. "A library, of course. When I came here to find the Tomb, I found an old man saying that he knew about a long-gone Legendary. No one but me really paid attention to him, and then he told me about a book I could find about you and Kuvai, called _The Black Book of the Tomb_. I read it, and then, right after that, I heard rumors that Team Magma had used a dead Legendary's DNA to create a beast that would awaken Groudon."

Kaiyou glared and then turned away while muttering something about stupid, senile old men ruining everything. Shayla turned to Illauna in question. "What are you talking about? Who's Kuvai? What's the Black Tomb? Kaiyou was dead? I don't understand."

Illauna's eyebrow raised and she faced Kaiyou's back. "You haven't told her? Have you told anyone?"

He glared over his shoulder. "The absol, because she… she got involved. As for the others, I saw no reason to divulge my entire life story to them, so I kept my mouth shut. And you would do good to do that as well, trainer, lest you would like to share my own nightmares like the absol to your left."

She blinked and looked at me. "Are they really so terrible?"

I looked at her and then to Kaiyou. He glanced at me, and then walked over to the trunk of a tree. I felt caught in the middle, so I decided to not say anything at all. As I looked away from Illauna, I saw Tai looking at me with a strange face.

I saw Shayla shake her head. "No, Kaiyou didn't tell me, and niether did Demi." She sighed. "I guess they both have right to not tell me -it is their choice, and I don't want to know everything that each of my pokemon has done." She shook her head again. "But let's get off that subject! Illauna, where did you come from? What's your hometown?"

Illauna replied something, but I didn't listen. All of the sudden, I was feeling slightly ill, so I decided to walk around or sit under a nice, shady tree. I got up and searched for a while, well away from the group. I found a wonderful tree -beds of clover grew under it, so it was comfy to sit on. The tree itself was huge -the branches were enormous and the shade could probably cover three or four houses. I sat near the trunk, and then I smelled Tai near me.

I looked over my shoulder to see him standing there, the same strange expression on his face. It looked like… betrayal and worry mushed together. I sighed and then put my weary head on my paws. To be honest, I didn't want to talk to him that much. But, not really wanting to tell him that, I asked, "What is it, Tai?"

I heard his footprints come closer to me. "So… you knew about Kaiyou's past? You know what had happened to him?"

I blinked and stared at my black claws. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

I looked over my shoulder to see his reaction. He shrugged a bit, and then replied softly, "I… thought you would have told us if you knew anything. To tell you the truth, I didn't really know about this Kaiyou guy. From the moment I saw him, I didn't really like him, since he looks so much like a damned mutated umbreon."

I rolled my eyes and let my head fall to my paws. "Not this again."

He sighed and lay down beside me. "I'm not going to go into it, and I don't really want to argue with you."

I looked at him. "Then… what do you want? There must be a reason you followed me all the way here."

He looked at me as if the answer was obvious. "I want to know why you didn't tell me about your dreams. I really was scared when you screamed so terribly that one night," he said. "You're Xena -you're not supposed to scream unless it's a battle cry."

For some reason, I felt guilty. Why hadn't I told him? _Because I didn't know how, or what his reaction would be._ I thought rationally. _I had also wanted to know everything before I divulged information about a topic that I didn't know very well._ I sighed and put my head on my paws. "Sorry I worried you. But I'm fine now, really."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tai's eyebrow cock. "Really? You woke me up again last night because you kicked me in my side. You didn't scream, but you looked like you were in trouble." He leaned closer to my face. "What, exactly, are these dreams of yours about?"

I retreated a bit from him. Being that close made me nervous. "About Kaiyou. They're his dreams, after all. They're… they're mostly his memories -before he died."

His cocked eyebrow inclined more. " 'Mostly'? Then what's the other stuff about?"

The red eyes flashed before me, and I started a bit. I shook my head vigorously. I couldn't talk about Kuvai -I couldn't. I knew that if I did, my walls would break and I would collapse. I couldn't do that, especially in front of Tai. I couldn't lose myself in that horrible dream in front of him. "I… I can't," I said weakly. I let my face fall into the slight darkness between my forelegs. "I can't," I muttered again. I felt pitiful.

I felt Tai's paw on my leg. "Come on, Demi. It's okay, you can tell me. I won't tell a soul."

I shook my head again while keeping my face in between my forelegs. I saw the red eyes again, and then felt the thing's repulsive hot breath against my fur. I shuddered. "No," I muttered, "you don't understand. I can't tell you because… Because…"

"Because… you're too afraid of it?" Tai asked. "You believe that talking about it will make it… come… true?"

I blinked. That wasn't really it, but it was a small part. I didn't do anything to respond him, so he took my silence for a 'yes'.

"Demi… Ayako," he corrected himself, "it's all right to tell me. I promise, I'll make sure that whatever it is that's haunting you in your dreams, I'll protect you from it." I looked up at him, astonished that he wasn't trying to irritate me or make fun of me. He smiled back at me with his goofy-looking grin. "Now, will you please tell me?"

I sighed and looked at him. He was looking me straight in the eye, wearing an "I'm-ready-for-anything" expression. I felt that he needed to know -after all, he was going through all of this trouble to try and console me, something he didn't need to do at all. My eyes fell from his face and I stared at the base of the tree in front of me and began to talk.

I started with Kaiyou's memories. After all, they weren't as bad as what always seemed to happen afterwards. I guess Tai listened intently, because he didn't move an inch as I talked. I talked about him being murdered by the humans, and about Yasille and the Tomb. I told him about Buganti and how he was decapitated by the very humans he protected and how Kaiyou destroyed them all. I spoke of Ho-Oh and how he revived Buganti, only to have the great beast turn into that shadowy figure named Kuvai.

Then, I began to talk about the smothering, suffocating, murky ocean and the red eyes. I felt myself begin to shudder. The dream then took a hold on me, and I was there again, except I was still narrating. I saw the eyes and teeth, felt his hot breath on my fur. To this day, I still have no idea what I said when I spoke about that part of my dreams. Tai never repeated them to me.

I felt my voice raise as the thing's claws dug into my flesh, and the thing's illuminated eyes and teeth drew closer to me. But, I didn't scream, and then the vision vanished. I blinked and began to pant harshly, as if I had really been suffocated somehow. I didn't look at Tai. I couldn't. We sat there for what seemed like forever when he made the first move.

Slowly, he leaned down and looked at me. I kept my gaze toward the tree. "Ayako," he said softly, "It's all right. You're not dreaming now. I'm here with you, under this tree. And, should you have anymore dreams like… the one you just told me, you can always come to me now." He cocked his head slightly and brushed his right front paw against my cheek. "So no more tears or secrets, okay?"

Tears? I was…crying? I looked at his now wet paw, and I then discovered that my whole face was stained with them, including the tops of my legs. I gave a slight start and started to frantically dry them off, but Tai's paw held down one of my own.

"Ayako, it's all right," he repeated soothingly. For the first time in a while, I looked him in the face. "It's all right to cry about something like that. Hell, I would be bawling like a baby for weeks." I gave a slight tear-choked chuckle. He smiled and then lay down and then said, "You know, I had a really weird dream once."

I was caught a little off-guard by his statement. "Yeah…?" I asked, to which he smiled.

"Yup," he replied happily. "It was when I was really young, when I had just evolved into a jolteon. Everyone was still unevolved, except me of course. I had just eaten a huge sandwich packed with all of this foreign food in it -'Mexican' I think Shayla called it, and in my dream, there were all of these dancing foods!"

The red eyes in my mind were replaced by dancing fajitas and enchiladas. "Really?" I asked without much conviction, but he just nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I was in a jail made of tacos because I had eaten a member of the High Council, and I was about to go on trial. Well, I was hungry so I ate my way through the jail, and then munched on a few burrito-security guards. Kazu then showed up and he told me that two big guards were heading my way -they were these huge chili-covered chimichungas. I ate one, but I was so full, I couldn't eat the other. So Kazu, since I was so huge by this time, rolled me around like the boulder from that one movie…" He paused to think of the name. " 'Raiders of the Lost Ark!' That was it!"

He kept talking, but I really didn't pay attention. I merely stared at him graciously. I wasn't stupid -I knew he was trying to cheer me up. When he finished, he suggested we go back to camp. I shook my head and told him I would like to stay at the tree trunk a bit longer. He shrugged and then began to trot off, but I stopped him for a moment.

"Tai!" I called. He looked over his shoulder. I smiled. "Thank you…"

At first, I don't think he knew why I was thanking him. Then, his face broke out into a smile and then replied with a casual "Anytime, Xena". He then began to strut off to the beat of the tune he was whistling, _The Andy Griffith Show_.

To this day, I can't recall a glimmer of a nightmare from that night. All I remember from that night's dreams was helping Tai escape the chimichunga guard with Kazu at my side.

-

Bleh… I'm sick… :hack:cough: My throat's so sore… It really hurts when I cough, or even try to speak. I think I'm addicted to cough drops now that I've had so freaking many.

Lord, I hope this gets past me soon. Even my band directors are concerned about me.

Oh well. Ja.


	16. Kuvai

Jello, jello! Thank you for your wonderful reviews -I'm really enjoying them. Especially now, since I'm under a bit of pressure at school. Thank goodness I can come and write this -it's really relaxing! Woot.

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter, save for Kuvai and Illauna belonging to a friend of mine, Stephanie. I do not own them, she does.

****

Price for Freedom

Chapter 16

Kuvai

Ever since he had met Illauna, Kaiyou had been… a little nervous. He was a lot more jumpy than usual, and when I overheard Tai ask him about it, the Legendary told Tai that he was just making sure Gruzog wasn't going to try and hug him again. Though that may have been true to a point, I doubted that was the real cause.

For some reason, Kaiyou was now leading us around instead of Shayla, and Illauna had become a "temporary" guest in our traveling party. When she had asked us if she could travel along with us, she told us that she wanted to get to Rayquaza so she could train him. At the mention of his name, I felt dizzy. Just the thought of meeting that giant dragon sent shivers down my spine.

However, we weren't exactly traveling in the direction of the legendary dragon. In fact, we were going quite the opposite way. We had exited Mauville and were now heading north towards the mini-desert. Shoko didn't like this at all. Apparently, the charizard didn't like the thought of a huge, whirling mass of sand all around him.

"Do we really have to go in there?" he asked for about the millionth time in the past few minutes. "I mean, there is a route around it. I can even fly around or over it…"

Saji sighed and put a red claw on Shoko's shoulder. "Shoko, let me answer the questions you have now and for further notice. No, we don't really don't have to go in there. But we are. No, we aren't going to fly over and around it, and yes, you're going with us. And no, you're not getting out of it. Am I understood?"

Shoko sighed and lowered his head to his stomach. "Yes…"

Saji smiled. "Good. Now shut up. The sound of your complaining gives me a headache."

I chuckled and looked ahead of us to see Kaiyou near to running. I blinked. Why was he in such a hurry?

I ran up to him and trotted to keep up with him. "What's going on?" I asked. I saw we were near the desert. "Why are you going so fast?"

Kaiyou kept on looking forward, towards the desert. "Someone's at the Tomb, I can feel it! My lock's been broken, they're working on the last one!"

My heart nearly stopped. "There are people opening the Tomb?" I cried.

Kaiyou nodded. "Screw this human form, I can't be this slow!" He then transformed as he ran, becoming the great golden and black dog that I knew him as. As soon as all four of his lithe legs were fully developed, he dashed into the desert, not even a second thought slowing him down.

I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up, so I opened a portal to the door of the Tomb, which I remembered vividly from my dreams. I told everyone to follow and we reached the door of the Tomb to find Kaiyou hiding behind a rock in his human form again. Behind me, I could hear Shoko begin to whimper.

I looked and saw the intruders working at the door. They were from Team Aqua -it was easy to tell from their blue bandannas and logos on their shirts. The man that looked like the leader was holding a book in one hand and configuring something on the door with the other. He was tall-looking, short-cropped brown hair, and a pale, chiseled face. He was crouching near the ground, tracing something onto the black door with his fingertips. The other people -there were about forty- were standing around holding up tarps and umbrellas to protect themselves against the sand and sun.

Kaiyou growled -a strange sound coming from a human throat. "Bastards… What do they think they're doing?" He was about to get up when Shayla stopped him.

"What are you going to do to them!" she asked in a harsh whisper. "You can't kill them -they may only be looking for treasure or something like that! You don't know that they're looking for the Tomb!" (Illauna had informed Shayla about Kaiyou's enigmatic past.) However, Illauna shook her head.

"That man's holding the same book I read in the library…" she whispered. "That means he knows everything I do, about Kuvai, Kaiyou, everything." She looked down at Kaiyou. "They're probably looking for Kuvai to outdo Team Magma and what they achieved with you."

Kaiyou growled again and leapt to his feet. He ran out to the group, to which they brought out their guns. The man holding the book stopped their fire, but they didn't lower their weapons. "Come to enjoy the show, sport?" the man asked, and Kaiyou nearly took the man's head off right then.

"Are you insane?" Kaiyou cried. "Get out of here! This is dangerous ground -you don't know what's sleeping here! It mustn't-"

"-be awoken, I know," the man said in a bored tone. "My, that dialouge sounds familiar. You wouldn't happen to be the clone of the Guardian of this Tomb, would you?"

Kaiyou didn't answer the man. "Get out of here! You can't be here!"

The man stood up and shook his head. "No, you can't be. The Guardian was killed many years ago, and said Guardian is a giant black dog." When he said this, he took a slight pause and then started out of it. "Dear, it is rather rude of me to not introduce myself. I am Archie, leader of the famous Team Aqua. Pleased to meet you."

"I know who you are," Kaiyou snarled. "I don't care, though. You have to get out of here! He can't be awoken! Don't your pitiful eyes see the consequences of this action!"

Archie's frown deepened into a scowl. "That's rather rude of you. Here, I am, trying to make the world a better place, and here you are, insulting my duty."

Kaiyou grabbed the collar of the other man's shirt and lifted him up. I gasped -Kaiyou's black aura was coming up, and writhing around the two men. "Listen, human filth," Kaiyou spat, "I want you and your cronies out of here now. I don't care what your intentions are -the thing in there can't be awoken. Do you understand, you primitive Neanderthal?"

Archie snarled back and then kicked Kaiyou in the solar plexus. I heard the Dark Legendary give a grunt and then he went down, with Archie pinning my lord to the ground. I was about to go and rip the man's throat out, but Shayla held me back by grabbing onto my scruff. "No, girl," she whispered. "You might get shot!"

Hesitantly, I stood where I was and returned my attention to Kaiyou, who was still on the ground, recovering from the powerful kick. "Pah," Archie spat. "Pathetic. One kick made you go down. Though, I have to ask, what is your name? I want to know so that when my 'cronies', as you called them, kill you, I can correctly mark your tombstone."

Kaiyou glared up at Archie. "Get out of here. You don't know what you're doing…" I saw Kaiyou's aura flare up again when Archie's leg muscles flexed in anticipation of a kick. "Don't make me kill you," Kaiyou whispered, and Archie laughed.

"Kill me!" he exclaimed. "That's ludicrous! How could you even imply that you could stand and fight against me, especially since you went down so quickly?" He began to laugh again and then asked, "How do you think you are?"

I saw Kaiyou's head go down, and then his aura engulfed him. And even as he transformed back into his original form, he spoke. "I am Kaiyou, Guardian of the Black Tomb. You insolent humans h_ave gone far enough. If you **value your lives, then leave this place. If you refuse, I will be forced to kill you all.) **_Kaiyou, now in his true form, growled and looked at the Team Aqua members, most of which were quivering in fear. He glared at Archie, who's eyes were plenty wide now, and bared his fangs. **_(Now, LEAVE.)_**

Archie, snarled, and then cried, "Shoot him! Shoot the beast down!"

The men were quick, but Kaiyou was quicker. He vanished into the Void, and then attacked randomly at the men. Since he went right back into the Void as soon as he attacked, the Aqua men couldn't fire at him. Eventually, Kaiyou began to take men into the Void with him, and apparently left them there.

When all of his men were gone, Kaiyou stepped in front of Archie, and snarled again. **_(Leave. Or must I abandon you in the Void as well?)_**

Archie didn't retreat. "That will not be necessary, Black Wolf. For you see, I have help." He then pointed to the sky, where many flying ships and jet fighters were waiting. Kaiyou flinched and then Archie smiled. "I don't think your Void goes into the sky, does it? Especially in the day time."

Kaiyou lunged for Archie, but then a red laser blast caught him, and he flew into a nearby boulder. I felt a pain in my left shoulder, and then saw bright red blood oozing from the same place on Kaiyou. He got up, but didn't move. I heard Shoko, Saji and Amburna give roars behind me, and I saw them fly into the sky and begin to attack the aircraft. I turned my attention back to Archie, who was smiling.

"They won't be able to penetrate the defenses of those ships," he said assuredly. "Then, they'll be shot out of the sky." I growled and then I heard Illauna talk behind me.

"Raikou! Articuno!" Come out and help!" She then threw two ultra balls, and then, before me stood Raikou and Articuno. I nearly fainted right then. Illauna then pointed to the sky and then cried, "Bring down those ships!" Articuno flew into the air and then began to pelt the ships with ice beams and blizzards, and Raikou started to thunderbolt said ships. Archie was in shock for a minute, and then he snapped out of it.

"That won't save you!" he cried. "Not even Lugia himself could bring down those ships! They're protected against pokemon special attacks!"

Kaiyou shook his head. **_(You disgusting human! You really think Raikou and Articuno won't be able to penetrate your pitiful defenses? Pah! Pathetic!) _**The Dark Legendary then took another dive at Archie, but he was hit again by the red blast, and then skidded thirty feet towards me while on his side. The laser hit him on the side of the neck, and my own throbbed with his. I walked up to his giant form, and took a place in front of him. Archie laughed.

"Ha! Some Guardian you are! It says here, in this book, that you were murdered by humans 3500 years ago! Well, apparently it will happen again today!" He then took out a handgun from his belt and then aimed at Kaiyou. "Farewell, Guardian of the Black Tomb!"

I braced myself, but no shot came. I looked up and saw Tai holding onto Archie's now bloody hand with his teeth, growling and biting. I saw my opportunity, and then lunged forward myself. I bit onto the gun and took it from Archie. He screamed in frustration, and then punched Tai on the head. The jolteon yelped and then fell to the ground, and then Archie grabbed onto my scruff.

"You little bitch," he snarled. I saw the blood on his right hand, the one Tai had bit, and I snarled. I let out a thunderbolt and then he fell backwards. He kicked me in my side, but I turned and then bit onto his shin. He let out a cry and then tried kicking me in the face, but I stopped that with another thunderbolt. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaiyou stand and then look to the sky.

**_(Ayako!)_** he cried,_** (Get out of there! Shoko -he's about to fall on you!)**_

I looked up and saw a bloody red mass falling towards me, and I ran as fast as I could to escape it. When he landed, I turned and saw him half-lying on Archie. I stared in horror. He was bloody, mangled and unconscious. I heard Shayla cry the charizard's name, and she ran to him. I turned again to my right and saw Raikou get hit with the red beam, and then he was thrown to the boulders that surrounded us. After he landed on the sand, he didn't move.

Tai screamed beside me, and I ran to him. He was bleeding a little on his head, but it wasn't much. He winced and then turned to me. "Raikou was hit, huh?" he asked, and I nodded. He growled and then looked above us. I did the same, and saw Amburna falling -she was in the same state as Shoko. Articuno and Saji were still in the air -Articuno was powerful and could withstand the hits, and Saji had a steel body, which protected him from the beams. Amburna landed beside Shoko and Shayla ran to her as well.

I saw movement from Archie, who was still stuck underneath Shoko. He slithered out from underneath the downed charizard, and then he began to run towards the Tomb door, which was to my left. Tai and I headed him off, and then he brought out a taser. "Don't you dare," he threatened. "You haven't felt a shock like this before."

Tai scoffed. "That's electricity, bub. I absorb any I come in contact with." The jolteon then grabbed a hold of Archie's hand again, and ripped with all his might. Human blood and skin flew everywhere, and the taser fell to the ground. I flew at the Aqua man myself, but a blast to my right threw off course, and I landed against the rock wall. I fell to the sand, and I struggled to get up. I now saw Kaiyou, Saji and Articuno lying on the ground near where Raikou fell, and Tai was about ten feet away, unconscious. Archie laughed triumphantly. "You pitiful beings! How do you even fathom the concept of defeating me and my mission? Pah. Pathetic." He then turned to the door, and began to trace again with his fingers. Kaiyou, not quite out, raised his bloody head.

_**(Stop!)**_ he wailed._** (You can't! Kuvai will never obey you! He'll simply kill you and then move on to the cities! You can't…)**_ Archie picked up his discarded gun, and then shot Kaiyou at the base of his neck, on the other side. I flinched against the pain.

"Quiet, you mongrel," Archie spat. "I will do as I wish. You have failed, Guardian. Accept it." The Aqua man then completed his tracing, and then a great rumble began in the ground. I thought an earthquake was beginning, but the ground didn't split, and the door to the Tomb began to open. I looked to Kaiyou, and he began to cry in sorrow, telepathically and orally. It sounded so strange, yet morose and depressing. I looked back to the Tomb door, which revealed the stone lair of Buganti I had seen so many times in my dreams. In the middle lay a skeleton, giant and lizard-like. Archie stepped forward into the Tomb, and then the skeleton shuddered.

It was like something out of a bad horror film. The off-white skeleton of Buganti began to rise, and then, simply collapsed to the floor. Archie, not really sure what was happening, took a tentative step towards Buganti's corpse. It shuddered again, and then a dark shadowy figure arose from it.

I gasped.

Kuvai…

The dark shadow took a shape, and then I saw Kuvai clearly. The shadow had a reptilian profile. He was mostly grey with black stripes, and out of his head were two horns, also grey with black lightning bolt stripes. His arms were long and his paws ended with three finger claws and a thumb claw. His arms had three stripes and another stripe on his shoulder, which went down to a point on his chest. His long, black mane trailed down the length of his shadowy body, which faded into transparent nothingness. His face was decorated with three black stripes under his eyes, and a single stripe above. His throat was black, and his mouth was wide and snarling. He had lizard-like nostrils, and his eyes were the same red eyes that haunted Kaiyou and me. I stared in utter horror as Archie began to talk to Kuvai.

"Ah, Kuvai, Lord of the Underground!" Archie exclaimed happily. "Here, at this moment, you will assist me in awakening the great pokemon, Kyogre! Then, the dream of Team Aqua will finally come into reality!"

There was silence for a long time. Kuvai merely stared at Archie, and then, the shadow pokemon scoffed. **"Moronic human. Do you really believe that I would stoop so low as to need assistance in destroying this pitiful planet? Bah. Get out of my way." **Kuvai moved out of the Tomb, and then looked at our battlefield. He paused at Raikou and Articuno, but then stopped completely when his eyes fell upon Kaiyou's form. Kaiyou and Kuvai locked gazes, and then Kuvai smiled bitterly.

**"So, Kaiyou, you finally fell. By the human's hands, I see."** Kaiyou flinched.** "Well, you have a good seat, old friend. You'll be able to watch me kill these bastards with a good view."**

Kaiyou rose to his feet. **_(NEVER! Kuvai, you will not harm the innocent! I won't allow it! I'll DIE before I allow you to destroy this planet!) _**Half-limping, Kaiyou lunged at Kuvai with his teeth bared. Kuvai, looking bored, flung the wounded Dark Legendary back with what looked like a shadow ball. Kaiyou skidded back on his feet, still standing and growling. Kuvai scoffed.

**"Sent so far by a mere shadow ball, Kaiyou? You ARE wounded, aren't you?"** Kaiyou's growling got louder. Kuvai's mouth formed a smirk.** "Perhaps you should just stay out of the way so you don't die again?"**

Kaiyou took a staggering step forward. **_(Look at you, Kuvai! Can't you see what you've become? If your humans were to see you now… And Yasille, what about her? What do you think she would say if she-)_**

Kaiyou was silenced temporarily from the huge attack Kuvai sent at him. The Dark Legendary made another indent in the stone wall, and then fell to the sand with an unnatural thump. I felt his pain throb through me, but I paid no heed to it as Kaiyou struggled to stand. He couldn't push himself like this!

**"Quiet, Kaiyou,"** Kuvai growled softly.** "I would watch what I say. You're not well enough to take me on, Kaiyou. I advise you to stay out of this. You failed in your duty. Now shut up and stay out of this. The humans you mentioned betrayed me. They all deserve to die. And Yasille… She's probably dead by now. There's no need to linger on what's gone, Kaiyou. Like you shouldn't care about this planet. Once I destroy the human race, you can sit back and live in the Void."**

Kaiyou shook his head. **_(Never! You bastard -you're betraying Yasille! You swore to her that you would never hurt anyone- and now look at you! You're nothing but a coward! A fraud! A two-timing bastard that should go back into his lair and never see the light of day again!) _**Kaiyou lunged again, and then took hold of Kuvai's arm with his jaws. Kuvai, angry as hell, swung Kaiyou around and slammed him against the walls of the lair. Only after Kuvai bit into Kaiyou's neck did the Dark Legendary let go.

With a powerful swing, Kuvai threw Kaiyou against the ceiling, the walls and then smashed him into the ground. I collapsed to the ground, completely numbed by the pain. I had never felt so much at one time in my life. Before I knew it, I was on my side, panting hard. I looked back to the scene, where Kaiyou was in his human form, lying face down on the stone floor. A pool of blood was rapidly forming around his side and head, and I feared the worst. Kuvai stared at him for a while, then smiled bitterly again.

**"Stubborn fool… He never did know when to quit…"** He turned back to the forgotten Archie, who was near to pissing his pants. **"And as for you, human filth, I will destroy you like I will this entire planet!"** With a telepathic roar, he created a giant shadow ball and sent it straight at Archie, killing the human instantly.

The Aqua ships then began to fire at Kuvai. However, the beams did nothing, and Kuvai roared in agitation. **"Damn humans, AWAY WITH YOU!"** He sent another powerful shadow ball at the ships, and, like a tinker toys,they blew apart utterly. Kuvai began to pulsulate somehow, and then, he was engulfed in black light.

I saw movement behind him. I gasped and saw Kaiyou lift his bloody, marred head, and then his eyes grew wide. "NO! KUVAI, DON'T!"

Apparently, Kuvai didn't listen. He began to grow and grow. The ones that were still alive and conscious watched in horror as Kuvai's body became slightly solid and snake-like. He must have been a mile high by the time he stopped growing. And then, when he was finished, he looked down at us, half-dead and broken, and smiled.

**"NOW, NOW, YOU PITIFUL CREATURES, YOU WILL TASTE YOUR DOOM!" **With that, his massive, clawed hands formed a giant mass of shadow and power, and then flung it down at us. The last thing I remember is Kaiyou rushing out, and then taking the brunt of the attack. And then, Kuvai's fading words,** "Kaiyou, you fool..."**

-

WOOT! That was fun. Poor Kaiyou, he gets beaten up so much… Oh well. :0

I'll try to keep writing as soon as I can. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter to you soon.

Ja!


	17. Sister

Small note: the song in this chapter is the ending song from the _Gladiator _soundtrack, and is also at the end of said movie. It begins at the… main theme of the song, where it gets all pretty-like. If you have no idea of what I speak, tell me in your review and I will give you a link to listen to it. It's really pretty.

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 17

Sister

I don't know how long I was out. I guess it had been about a day -one of the shorter time lapses for my team. I woke up on a white hospital bed with a Nurse Joy looking over me. I had bandages all over me -I guessed I had been hurt worse than I thought. After the nurse deemed me well enough to walk, I ventured out and searched the hospital for my comrades.

While on my trek, I found out that this hospital was a joint one -it treated both pokemon and human patients. I was happy for that -then we wouldn't have to go back and forth between hospitals. The thought reminded me of Kaiyou, and I grew worried. Was he even alive after that final hit?

"Xena!" a male voice called. I looked behind me and saw Tai grinning like an idiot. I was about to retort, but then I saw his badly-hidden limp and a large bandage on his side, which was stained a dark red. The retort disappeared and then Tai frowned.

"What?" he asked, and then followed my stare to his bloody bandage. Then, he laughed. "Oh, that's nothing! I've had worse before -not much can bring me down!" He laughed again, and I snapped out of my stupor.

"Unfortunately…" I muttered, and then I began walking again. Tai laughed and then limped to my side. I slowed my pace so that he could keep up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him take a look at our surroundings.

"This place sure is big…" he whispered. Then, his face grew worried. "I wonder if Shayla's okay… I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her. And I hope everyone else is all right -Shoko, Amburna and Kaiyou weren't looking too good before that big hit…" Then, his eyes got wide and he gasped. "Holy crap, Kaiyou! I remember him being really bloodied up…" He turned to me. "D'you think he's okay?" To this, I shrugged without comment and left it at that.

Tai took the hint that I didn't want to discuss the idea that Kaiyou could be dead, and then remained silent for a while. We wandered around aimlessly, and then found Shayla, (playing video games, actually,) Illauna, Shoko (still unconscious, but stable,) Amburna, (alive and well,) and Saji, who was mad at the fact that he couldn't beat Kuvai into a bloody pulp like he wanted to. For a few minutes, Tai and I visited with Saji, but then, I became distracted. I smelt Kaiyou not too far away.

I told Tai that I would be back in a while and then rushed out of the room to the room adjacent to Saji's -where Kaiyou's scent was coming from. I ran in, skidded on the tile floor, and then almost collapsed into tears.

I had never seen anything be so beaten and yet, still be alive. He was in human form, though I could barely recognize him through all of the cuts, bruises and gashes. I saw the translucent tubes of life support sticking out of him, and a machine was acting like an air pump beside him, apparently helping him breathe, since his chest went up and down along with it. The machine had a long tube from its side to a mask, which was covering his mouth and nose. There was another machine behind him, beeping along with what I guessed was his heart. There was a metal stand beside the air pump with a bag of blood in it, and then a similar stand with a bag of water in it. His left eye was covered by a white bandage, and he had a brace on his right arm. I took a step closer, but then I was yanked back by a human hand.

"You shouldn't be in here, little miss," said a feminine voice above me. I looked up at her and saw that she was a nurse -Kaiyou's, I assumed. "He's not fit for other people -or pokemon- to be visiting him. Sorry, girl, but you'll have to wait until he at least wakes up." She gently ushered me out of the room, and then closed the door as soon as I was out. I put a paw on the door, but I let it fall back to the floor. She wouldn't open it for me…

I heard the pitter patter of small feet and I turned to see Tai standing behind me, a somber look on his face. "…Is he alive?" he asked. I guessed that he meant Kaiyou, and I nodded.

He sighed in what seemed like relief. "Good. D'you know how long it'll take until he gets better?" I shook my head and then he frowned a little. He shuffled his feet, and then said, "Just now, Shayla called Professor Oak to check on Kazu and everyone else." I turned fully to him and then sat on the floor. He looked... distressed… "The Professor says that Kuvai's already completely destroyed Mossdeep… Shayla's uncle got out and is now living with everyone in Pallet… But the Professor said that Kuvai's moving to Lilycove, and then maybe to Fortree…" He looked up to see my reaction. "Just thought… I'd let you know…"

My gaze fell to the floor. My family had no idea what kind of monster was about to head towards them… Surly, they'd feel it. Surly they'd be able to sense his power and lust for destruction, and they'd be able to get away… Maybe…

I felt a poke in my side and looked up at Tai. He smiled in a reassuring way, and then said softly, "I'm sure they'll be all right. They're not stupid. They'll know, and then get away." I felt my face smile a little, and then Tai's rare, sweet smile turned into a goofy grin. "Hey, we better get back! Illauna and Shayla are fighting it out on Super Smash Bros. Melee, and I don't wanna miss it! Come on!"

I watched as he limped and ran at the same time, occasionally slipping and knocking something over, and then I followed, trying to force the image of Kaiyou lying in that sterile hospital bed half-dead out of my mind.

-

That night, I couldn't sleep. I was sleeping in the little pallet that the nurses made for me in my room, (which I was sharing with Amburna and Shayla), and even though it was really comfy, I couldn't sleep. I sighed and then decided to walk around a bit, to clear my head.

Much later, I found myself at Kaiyou's door in the ICU. I saw that the door was slightly open, so I decided to let myself in. Once I did, however, I heard soft, beautiful, mournful singing from inside. Confused, I looked in carefully and saw a woman sitting at Kaiyou's bedside, crying and singing simultaneously. My mouth opened slightly, and I tried to understand the words she was singing. However, it was in a language I didn't understand.

"Inji sei shadin

Ini so lad uun

honto teij lal mei…

…iite

"Hondo iej isa

Iite lal mei

Hano mej lal mei…

Iite…"

I had come out of the doorway and the only thing left holding it open was my left rear foot. I pulled it forward, but then the door closed and sent a shock through me and I yelped softly. I tried to hide from the woman's view, but, she gasped and turned to me suddenly, fear in her eyes. When she saw me, however, her tear-stained face relaxed into a sad smile.

"Well, hello there," she called gently. "I thought you were a human nurse, but I guess not. It would be bad for one of them to find me here now -it's way too late for visiting hours…" she mused. "But, I can't seem to be able to visit him when it is visiting time, so I snuck in…" She sighed and let her head rest against the bed rail.

I took a good look at her. I guessed her hair was a dirty-blonde from the light I had. Her complexion was pale, and her eyes were a bright, emerald green. She wore a green kimono decorated on the shoulders with little yellow flowers. She wore a dark blue cloth around her middle, and a light, blue kimono underneath the flowery one. She wore white obi and sandals, and I noticed she looked a bit younger than Kaiyou. And then, I took a whiff of her scent and paused. She smelled familiar…

My musing was broken when she began to move again. She sat up on her knees and looked over at Kaiyou's broken body and then, I saw more tears welling up in her eyes. My brow furrowed. What was Kaiyou to this woman?

"Oh Kaiyou," she whispered. "I… I'm so sorry… I… I should have done something… I tried to protect the Tomb, but… but each time I tried to stop the humans from undoing the locks, they… they held up your pelt… Your pelt… It was stained with blood -they never cleaned it… and… I… I couldn't stand to look at it and smell your dry blood and the scent of death all over it…" She reached down with her left hand and took Kaiyou's right. "I'm so sorry… But… how are you here? I saw… I saw them kill you all those years ago… How are you here now, lying in this bed struggling to survive? Ho-Oh couldn't possibly…"

"It wasn't Ho-Oh," I found myself saying. She turned to me, surprised. I guessed she had forgotten I was even there. "Team Magma took his remains, and then cloned him, so that he could awaken Groudon…" The woman's face contorted into one of angry sadness.

"Groudon and Kyogre would be much better than Anubo rampaging around the land," she spat. "He'll destroy everything -even move out of the Pokemon Regions and onto the other continents."

"Wait," I said. Did she just say "Anubo"? "Kuvai… He's the one killing everything… Who are you talking about?"

The woman blinked, and then said, "Kuvai wouldn't destroy anything… It's Anubo…" Her head went down and she receded into the folds of Kaiyou's blanket. "Kuvai wouldn't do this to Kaiyou… He wouldn't…"

I growled. "Look lady," I snapped, "I saw it with my own eyes. Kuvai did most of this to Kaiyou. I saw him blast Kaiyou into unconsciousness. And then, he grew into this huge monster and then sent a huge ball of power to kill us all, and Kaiyou took the brunt of it." The woman stared at me, confused. "I saw it. I was there."

The woman shook her head again. "No… that's not possible… Kuvai… he's not very big… You're talking about-"

Suddenly, the door flew open and a plump nurse barged in and interrupted the woman at Kaiyou's bedside. "What are you doing in here!" she whispered harshly. "Get out of here! Get out!" She took me roughly by the scruff and tossed me in the hall, and then went back inside for the woman. I heard a gasp and then looked back in the room, where there was no woman to be found. She had completely disappeared.

-

The following morning, I discussed the matter with Amburna and Tai. We were sitting in the courtyard under a sakura tree, completely alone. After I told them what happened with the woman, Amburna sat up a little to attract attention.

"I do not know of this 'Anubo'…" the dragonair commented airily, "but this woman, you said you recognized her scent? Do you not recall her name?"

I shook my head. "No, not at all. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't say it. I know I've never seen her before, but I've smelled her scent before."

Tai shook his head. "Scents in this hospital can mess with your head, Demi," he said solemnly. "You could have been mistaken, or just taking in Kaiyou's scent along with the woman's, and you got the two confused. It's easy to do that here, what with all of the stinking medicines and sterilizers. Why, I did it yesterday. I thought I was going to the cafeteria and I ended up out here, staring at a squirrel."

Amburna rolled her eyes. "Tai, your nose doesn't count. It's far too sensitive for here, to be an example for Demi's nose. Hers isn't as good as yours." She shook her head again. "No, for Demi to notice another scent with the scents of Kaiyou, blood, medicine and sterilizers, it had to be strong, and coming from a different source. The woman's scent was her own, not Kaiyou's."

I sighed. I thought that discussing it with the others might help me in figuring something out, but it was only making myself more confused. I stood up. "Sorry, but I want to go and check on Kaiyou. See ya." I turned to walk back to the white hospital, but Tai's voice made me pause.

"Wait, won't they shoo you away?" he asked. "I mean, that's what happened the last two times, wasn't it?"

I shrugged. "Maybe he woke up."

-

I looked up at Kaiyou's closed door in agitation. Why didn't they have doggie doors on these things? I frowned and looked about me for any kind of tool that I could use to open the door without completely destroying it. The nurses would see me if I tried that. Seeing nothing that would be of great use, I turned back to the door and an idea sprung to my head.

I could see the little metal piece that was keeping the door in its place and figured that if I angled my aerial ace attack correctly, I could slice the thing in two and then open the door without a quarrel. And, as a perk, the door would look unharmed.

I grinned and then looked about me again, to make sure no one was watching. I angled my scythe towards the metal piece and then flung an aerial ace at it, and the metal piece was cut in half. Triumphantly, I stood on my hindquarters and pulled on the door with my forelegs and walked in. Fortunately, there was no nurse in the room with me, so I had Kaiyou all to myself. I walked to his bed and stood to see over the black, plastic railing.

He looked better -his facial wounds had healed a bit, and he didn't look as pale as before. However, all of the tubes, wires and the mask were all still attached to him. I sighed and then leapt onto his bed and sat by his side. I looked to the head of his bed, where the beepy machine was sitting. I saw little mountains of green lines go up at every beep, and then went flat for a little while, then the mountains appeared again. It made no sense to me, so I dismissed it as human nonsense and then lay down. Sighing, I let myself drift into a half-sleep for a little while.

I don't really know how long I dozed, but my eyes snapped open when I heard footsteps leading to the room. I leapt off of the bed and then went into the Void, but not too far so I could see what was happening. (Why it didn't occur to me to use the Void before is completely beside the point.) I saw the world through a black veil -like heavy tinting on a car window, or looking out through a light black cloth. It was muddled, but I saw two young, giggling nurses walk in with clipboards and charts. They looked at Kaiyou and began to talk.

"He's cute," one said. She had distinctive black hair and wore glasses. "Do you know what happened to him?"

The other, prematurely grey-haired, nodded her head. "Yeah, he was hit by the thing that's going around and destroying cities and stuff. Hear it's an actual pokemon."

The first one scoffed and began to check the bags next to the air pump. "No way that thing's a pokemon. It's too big, too… evil. No pokemon's evil like that."

The other shrugged and then took notes on her clipboard. "I greatly disagree with you, Karla. Any kind of pokemon can be evil, like any person can be evil. I would guess that an intelligent pokemon could actually conceive the concept of world domination and try to strive for it." She scribbled a bit at her chart, then looked to the black-haired nurse. "Any change?"

The nurse, Karla, "Hmm"-ed, checked under the eye bandage, checked his arm cast, and then said, "His eye's healed. When he wakes up, he shouldn't have a problem seeing out of it." I sighed in relief, but then, the woman's tone of voice switched to more grave. "However, I think he's slipping into a coma. His neural chart is getting lower and lower… he's not quite there yet, but he's damn close." I gasped. A coma? Deities only know when someone's going to wake up from a coma! Even I knew that!

The grey-haired woman fixed a look of worry on her young face. "Too bad… There's nothing we can do, huh?" To my dismay, the black-haired nurse shook her head slowly.

"That's a shame, he really is cute," Karla commented, and then left the room with the grey-haired nurse following close behind. When they were gone, I tentatively stepped out of the protective Void and to Kaiyou's bedside. I took back my place at his side and then lay down with a heavy sigh.

What was I going to do?

-

I assumed that I had fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, moonlight streamed through the open windows, and darkness filled the room. I was still in the same place, on Kaiyou's left side lying on my belly with my head on my paws. I looked around me and spotted a clock that read "11:45 pm". I gulped. Shayla was probably worried sick about me…

I was about to head back to my room when I heard footsteps outside the door, and coming closer. I gasped and leapt under Kaiyou's bed and entered the Void. I looked back and watched the door to see who came in.

At the sight of her, I gasped. It was the woman from the night before! I sniffed her again to make sure I didn't get the scent wrong. It was the same as the night before, but now it was mingled with her own blood. I watched in anxiety as she slowly made her way to Kaiyou's bedside and knelt down.

"Kaiyou…" she whispered while simultaneously wiping the bangs from his face. "Kaiyou, come on, wake up. Please… I need for you to wake up… Anubo… he's just destroyed Fortree City. I tried to stop him, but… but I couldn't. Even with my power, he's far too powerful for me alone." She waited for some kind of movement from the Dark Legendary, but he did nothing but breathe. Her face formed an expression of mourning, and tears welled up in her emerald eyes. She let her head fall to Kaiyou's chest, and then muttered, "Brother, open your eyes." My mind clicked and I gasped. "Please, brother," she wailed, "open your eyes!"

__

Yasille! my mind cried. _It must be her!_ I almost jumped out of the Void right then when I heard more footsteps from the hallway. I saw Yasille turn towards the door, fear written all over her face and scent, and I jumped out of the Void and took her hand gently in my jaws. She looked back at me in surprise, but let me take her into the safe darkness.

The nurse, who had probably heard Yasille crying for Kaiyou to wake up, opened the door with ferocity. But when she saw no one in the room other than Kaiyou, she frowned and then walked back out. I waited until her footsteps had disappeared, and then I leapt back into the real world with Yasille clinging to the scruff of my neck.

When we were out of the Void, Yasille collapsed behind me, panting hard. I turned to her in surprise. No one had acted like that after they went into the Void. And I expected her to be a Dark, like her brother. She looked up to me with a pale face, but a grateful pale face.

"Thank you, absol," she said in between heavy breaths. "If not for you, they would have caught me. Though, I'd rather not repeat the little adventure. You could say I'm… allergic… to the Void…" As I tried to figure out what that meant, Yasille stood and placed a small, fragile-looking hand on her brother's forehead.

"I feel his presence fading…" she said sadly. "Perhaps he won't awaken until after Anubo has completely destroyed the Hoenn region…" I looked up at her in confusion.

"You've called him Anubo before," I said, and she looked down at me. "What are you talking about? The thing rampaging around Hoenn… IS Kuvai, isn't? He responded to 'Kuvai' at the Tomb…"

Yasille blinked and then said, "Because he was Kuvai then. Now he's Anubo."

I blinked in utter confusion. "What?" I asked, and then Yasille giggled at my stupidity.

"I'm sorry, young darkling, but I'm not very good at explaining things. When my brother awakens, he can tell you much better than I can." With that, she smiled and then transformed into her true form, and then smiled down on me.

**__**

-I now know that I can leave my brother to you, absol- she said. **_-I won't have to worry about him. Please, inform my brother that I am still alive. He will be able to contact me, and then we can all work to bring Anubo down.- _**She then lifted her elegant cream and black head, and then said softly, **_-Now, young absol, you might want to go back to your trainer. She's worried.-_** At my hesitation, she smiled back down on me. **_-Do not worry for my brother. My premonition tells me he will awaken soon -when you visit him next, he will wake up.-_**

I looked up at her in surprise -just a few moments ago, she was crying her eyes out to try and wake him up. Perhaps she just had a vision or something? However, she told me nothing more, and then nodded at me. I nodded back to her, and then she disappeared into the light of the glare on the window. I blinked. How did she get into the Void in no shadow? I shook my head and then left Kaiyou's room, feeling confused a little distraught. I had no more energy for trying to figure her out just yet.

-

The next time that I made it to Kaiyou's room without being sidetracked or pulled away was four days after I last saw Yasille. I hadn't seen her since that night, but I really didn't expect to either. I went through the Void to Kaiyou's room, which was thankfully empty, and stepped onto the cold tile floor. At the sound of my footsteps, I saw Kaiyou's unbandaged head turn towards me, and then, smiled at me with his battered face. "Well, hello girl. Haven't seen you in a while."

My face broke out in a smile and I leapt up onto his bed and licked his face like my life was on the line. He laughed and then gently pushed me back, to which I obliged. He wiped his face with his arm and then said, "Man, girl. How long was I out to get a reception like that?"

I shrugged and made a conscious effort to stop my tail from wagging. "I don't know… About a week, I guess." At this, Kaiyou's eyebrow went up. "The nurses were worried that you were going into a coma for a while."

He chuckled lightly. "Well, I'm all right now." He looked around the room and then, when his gaze settled on the air pump machine, (now off) asked of me, "Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital in Mauville," I replied. "Everyone's had to recover here, from Kuvai's blast." Then, Yasille popped into my head. "Which reminds me," I said loftily, "Yasille wanted me to tell you she's alive. She said that if I told you, then you could come up with a way to defeat Kuvai."

At the sound of his sister's name, Kaiyou's head snapped from the air pump machine to me. "Yasille?" he asked softly, and, when I nodded, he sighed heavily and let his head roll up. "Oh, I had hoped she was still alive…" he muttered. "Without her… Anubo…"

My brow furrowed. There was that name again. "She kept on talking about this 'Anubo' guy. Who the hell is he? I thought the guy we were battling was Kuvai!"

Kaiyou looked back to me, a knowing smile on his face. I hated that smile. "Not now, girl. Later, when I'm not so tired, and when I'm back on my feet." He sighed happily. "Oh, how I have longed to see my sister…"

I put a paw on his good arm. "But Kaiyou," I pleaded, "please tell me now. You're not going to torture me like you did with the information about Kuvai, are you?" All I got was a mischievous smile and a request that I get out and let him rest.

I sighed angrily and then stomped out of room. I then regretted ever saying that his closed lips tortured me. Now, I would never know about Anubo…

-

Yay! Kaiyou's all right! I really thought about ending this chapter where Yasille entered for then second time, but I thought, "No, my readers deserve better than that!" and I kept on writing. :)

I have a major part of the next chapter already written, so it should be out kinda quickly.

Until then, ja!


	18. Anubo

It makes me so happy that so many of you love Kaiyou! Ahh… It fills my heart with joy. And no, I didn't "invent" the language. I just… made up translations to it, which you will see shortly. :)

And to the person who asked, no, Demi isn't in love with Kaiyou. Kaiyou is more of a big brother or even a father figure to her. He's her personal deity. (Kind of.) So, she wouldn't have a romantic relationship with Kaiyou. She does have a crush on someone, but I'll just leave it at that. :)

Disclaimer: I own Kaiyou, Yasille, Shayla, Shayla's Uncle, and all names, save for Kuvai, Illauna, Gruzog, Segalla, and Anubo. The rest isn't mine, no matter how much I wish for it.

**Price for Freedom**

**Chapter 18**

**Anubo**

It was the day after Kaiyou had woken up, and we were out of the stinking hospital, traveling to Sootopolis. Kaiyou had spoken with Yasille telepathically, and we were to meet her there.

"So the Yasille you saw in that first dream is the one we're going to meet at Sootopolis?" Tai asked me as we were flying over the sea. I was on Shoko, sitting with Tai, Shayla was on Amburna with Kaiyou behind her, Saji was flying slightly below them, and Illauna was above us, riding on Articuno. She didn't have any of her pokemon out, besides the ice bird. In reply to Tai's question, I nodded.

"Yup," I said. "It's the same person. I think she knows how to defeat Anubo."

Tai sighed. "I hope so."

I cocked my eyebrow. "What's this? Tai, the great warrior, afraid?"

Tai scowled at me. "Shut up. You should be too, what with this huge evil thing rampaging around. Why are you so cheerful?"

I shrugged. It was probably because all of my teammates had recovered so well and so fast. And Kaiyou was back to his old self again. I heard Shoko grunt from beneath us.

"I heard he's already destroyed everything up to Rustburo," the charizard grunted. "There are a lot of refugees fleeing to Johto -maybe we should too, while we still have the chance."

Tai growled. "You mean run away? That's crap! Shoko, even if we did, he'd come into the region we were at eventually."

Shoko shook his orange head. "I also heard that Goldenrod is about to mount an attack on him. They're gathering all of the military strength in the whole Johto region and placing it all in Goldenrod. Even the other countries are helping out -a pidgy told me that there were Americans, Germans, Spanish and Japanese in there, and that there were a lot more to come."

I shook my head. "Even with all of this military power, I doubt that it'll hurt Anubo very much…"

Tai scoffed. "Demi, have you not seen an action movie in your entire life?" At my blank stare, he continued. "I know the run-down. Americans have nukes. Nukes can blow anything into smithereens. Including Anubo."

I frowned. "I don't know. I hope you're right, Tai." The thought that Anubo could be defeated so easily… I didn't think it was very possible. No, my intuition was telling me that the battle against Anubo would consist of more than a few Americans and their "nukes".

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

We had come to a small diner in Sootopolis City, with Kaiyou in his human form and the rest of my comrades out of their poke balls. Illauna kept her tyranitar, Gruzog, out to ensure our privacy. Shayla and Illauna sat down on one side of a red, cushioned booth and Kaiyou sat on the other. He leaned back and put his arms up on the top of the booth in a casual manner. Illauna leaned forward on the glossy wooden table and spoke softly.

"Is there any way to stop him?" she asked in a whisper, looking at Kaiyou, who had turned away and was looking out the window to his right. When he heard the question, he turned to her and cocked his eyebrow.

"Stop?" he asked, apparently not knowing who Illauna was talking about. Shayla sighed and crossed her arms.

"Who do you think?" Shayla said in a harsh whisper. "Anubo! How do you stop him? How do you defeat him!"

Kaiyou stared at her, and then burst out laughing. The few people in the diner with us began to look at the Dark Legendary, but then Illauna's tyranitar growled at them, to which they happily went back to what they were doing before. After Kaiyou had stopped laughing, he wiped his eyes -apparently, he had laughed so hard, he cried.

Tai didn't like this. "How could he laugh about Anubo?" he asked in my ear. I gave a slight shrug -I thought Anubo wasn't a laughing matter, but apparently…

Kaiyou looked at Illauna like she was insane. "Defeat Anubo?" he asked incredulously. "Ha! Naïve human, do you really think there is a way to defeat a leviathan like that?" He leaned back on his seat and looked back out the window. "No… There isn't a way. At least not one that can be used in this age anyway." He looked back at Shayla and Illauna and narrowed his eyes. "You might as well just give up and find some underground haven until he blows his anger out. Once his strength is spent, then he will return to his Kuvai form and return to the Black Tomb."

Shayla pounded her fists on the table. "That's crap! You're his GUARDIAN! You HAVE to know a way to stop him!"

Kaiyou glared at my trainer. "I am the Guardian of the Black Tomb. Not of Kuvai himself. I'm just supposed to make sure this doesn't happen."

"Fine job you did there," Tai muttered, and the Dark Legendary turned his icy gaze upon the jolteon beside me. Tai whimpered and jumped behind Shoko. The charizard merely rolled his eyes.

Kaiyou returned his gaze back to the trainers. "Besides, Anubo's rampage won't last too long…" Then, his face became worried. "Unless…"

Shayla's eyebrow went up. " 'Unless…?' Unless what? Don't tell me this situation could get worse."

Kaiyou sighed. "Well… Anubo… It's a complicated thing… What Anubo really is, is a formless demon that possesses others in order to survive. Anubo got a hold of Kuvai when… Kuvai first came into being. The thing is unstoppable, especially since he has Kuvai's powers to wield at his whim." Kaiyou picked up the menu in front of him began to read. The two trainers exchanged glances and looked back at Kaiyou.

"…What are you doing?" Shayla asked. The Dark Legendary made a glance at my trainer from over the top of his menu and looked back down.

Instead of answering her with words, he raised his hand and the waitress, though reluctant to come near because of Illauna's tyranitar, walked to Kaiyou. "D-Do you need anything, S-Sir?" she stuttered, but Kaiyou didn't pay heed to her fright.

"Yes, I need a Pecha and Wiki Berry pie, please," he said, handing the waitress some money.

"D-Do you want a whole p-pie or just a s-slice…?" the waitress asked.

"Just a slice," Kaiyou answered and patted his belly. "Gotta watch my carb intake -I'm trying to watch my figure."

The waitress gave a nervous laugh, took his money and then walked briskly away, keeping her distance from the tyranitar.

For a moment, I wondered where he had gotten that money, but my thought was distracted by the shout that Shayla gave after the waitress left.

"YOU'RE ORDERING PIE?" Shayla demanded as she stood up out of her seat. I myself flinched away from her -I had never heard that kind of tone out of her before.

However, Kaiyou wasn't intimidated. He stared at her with a kind of blank stare, and said, "Well, yes. I'm hungry. All of that stinking hospital crap made my stomach want real food for once."

Shayla plopped back into her seat. She let her head fall onto the table with a thud and moaned after the collision. Illauna didn't pay attention to this and tried to talk to Kaiyou again.

"Look. Every pokemon has its weakness. Mewtwo and Lugia… They're psychic and can be taken down with a dark or ghost or bug type attack." Kaiyou raised an eyebrow. "Even you can be taken down with an army of fighting-types… This Anubo guy has to have some kind of weakness."

Kaiyou smiled bitterly. "You would think that wouldn't you? You humans… You just don't know when to give up. Anubo has no type. His attacks have no type. Therefore, he has no weakness, and no strength against any other pokemon. He has pure, cataclysmic power and size on his side. And he's a shadow… so guns and any kind of artillery won't work."

Shayla moaned in irritation and allowed her voice to grow. "Why can't you think of a way to stop him! He's destroying all of Hoenn! And pretty soon he'll move on to Johto and then finally Kanto! We have to stop him NOW!"

Kaiyou glared, and then gave a small frown. "No."

Shayla roared with anger, and then leaped over the table and wrapped her hands around Kaiyou's neck. "YOU KNOW A WAY, DON'T YOU?" She shook him a few times, and shouted the same question over and over again. I looked behind me and saw the whole diner staring at us with open mouths and wide eyes. Gruzog growled and roared, and the spectators returned to their previous activities.

Finally, Kaiyou slapped Shayla away and pushed her back into her seat. He rubbed his neck for a moment, and, with a steely, determined glare focused on my trainer, he said, "I do. But it's not like it could be of any use here, in this era."

Illauna looked at Kaiyou patiently. "You've said that before. What do you mean by that?"

The Dark Legendary frowned. "It's not going to do you any good, human, to know."

Shayla scowled. "Stop beating around the friggen' bush. Tell us what it is."

Kaiyou leaned back in his chair and scowled at my trainer. "No. I won't. I'm telling you -it won't do you any good and it'll be a waste of time and air."

Shayla's face grew dark. "Who was the one who saved you from those wounds you got after getting the blue orb?"

Kaiyou's face darkened, and his lip drew up in a very wolfish manner. "I never asked you to do it. I could have healed by myself. I didn't want your help."

But Shayla wasn't daunted. "But you accepted it. And, at this moment, you are still in my possession."

"You know," Kaiyou said loftily -quite a change from the ominous tone he had just a second ago, "Threatening me isn't going to get you anywhere. I could kill you in an instant -I'm not scared of you, human. Oh, of course you could sick your own pokemon upon me, but I could just disappear into the Void, safe from Anubo, and you would never see me again."

Illauna sighed. "Please, Kaiyou… Why won't you tell us? It wouldn't hurt to know, would it?"

The Dark Legendary scoffed. "Of course it would. Because you'd think it would be possible. And then you would go on this pointless wild goose chase and drag me with you. No. I'm not going to tell you."

There was a moment of tense silence where no one dared to move. The waitress, having overcome her fear of Gruzog, brought Kaiyou his piece of Wiki and Pecha berry pie. He took a piece off and tossed it to me, to which I hungrily gobbled up. They were, after all, my two favorite berries. Tai whimpered about him being hungry too.

Shayla threw herself against the back of her seat, and turned to Illauna. "He's not going to tell us. He's too damn stubborn." I saw Illauna look at Kaiyou, who was hungrily devouring his piece of pie, and sighed.

"Maybe you're right," Illauna said sadly. "But maybe he's right, too. Maybe there isn't a possible way to stop Anubo. After all… he should know of all people."

Kaiyou paused in his eating.

Shayla looked at the other trainer like she was insane. "Are you crazy?" she half-shouted, "He can't be telling the truth! There's always a way to defeat anything, no matter how impossible it may seem! At least there's a way to do it!"

Illauna shrugged. "I don't know, Shayla. I'm sure he doesn't like Anubo rampaging around as much as you and I, but… but I have to go by what he says. He knows more about Anubo and Kuvai than we do."

Shayla nodded. "Yeah… he does have infinite knowledge about the subject… And he's so powerful and glamorous…"

Kaiyou lifted his head. "Flattery won't work either."

Shayla pouted and cursed. Illauna sighed and then looked at Kaiyou in the eye. "Please, Kaiyou. I know that you don't want to get dragged into this and go on 'a wild goose chase' as you proclaim, but…" Illauna's face became determined, and her back straightened. "But this is your responsibility as the Guardian of the Black Tomb. If something goes wrong there, then it's your responsibility to fix it. We're willing to help you clean up your mess. Will you accept it or not?"

Kaiyou watched her for a moment, and, after a few seconds, sighed deeply and leaned back in his seat again. "I know I'm going to regret this, but… but I recall something from a long time ago -when I was still in my original life. I remember something -a legend- about the presence of a pure-hearted trainer accompanied by a pure-hearted pokemon, about how it would stop Anubo somehow. It's corny as hell, I know, but that's the way. The ONLY way. Unless you count running away to Europe or something." Kaiyou looked out the window. "There. I've told you. Now, do with it what you want."

Shayla seemed surprised. "That's it? That's all we have to do?" She began to get out of her seat when the Dark Legendary pulled her back down.

Kaiyou scoffed. "You ARE naïve! Have you ANY idea how HARD it is to find something remotely pure-hearted! A rock would have more chance of being pure-hearted than a pokemon! Or a trainer for that manner!" He crossed his legs under the table. "I told you, in this day and age, there isn't any hope of finding either one."

Shayla sighed. "So pessimistic. Someone has to pure-hearted. A whole species can't be all one thing, like evil or good. Someone has to-"

"Shut up," Kaiyou interrupted. "I don't want to hear any of your rational crap. But, see, you're proving my point. I knew you would want to go looking for a pure-hearted trainer and likewise pokemon. Friggen' wild goose chase. Well, you know what? I don't want to be a part of it. I don't like Anubo tearing up the landscape and killing innocents, but I don't want to be dragged into some pointless journey that will exhaust supplies and raise useless hopes." He got up to leave, but, for some reason, I jumped in front of his pathway.

He looked at me for a moment, and then smiled a bit. I don't know why he did, but then he scooted back into his seat. Shayla and Illauna looked at him strangely.

"I thought you didn't want to be a part of this," Shayla said in a condescending tone, to which Kaiyou glared.

"I don't. But your absol seems to think that this could work." He then looked at me, but… I was confused. I didn't have any hope for this plan. I just… I didn't really know why I jumped out in front him. I just did…

Shayla crossed her arms. "So, what about any of our pokemon?" she asked. He looked at her, and the inclined eyebrow rose. "Could any of our pokemon be pure-hearted?"

Kaiyou laughed. "Are you serious? Let's see, shall we? First off, your jolteon is gluttonous and harbors feelings of jealousy -no winner there." Tai pouted from behind Shoko. "Your dragonair is vain, your charizard is bloodthirsty in battle, your espeon is selfish, your scizor wants everything to burn, and your absol has feelings of revenge and hatred bottled up inside her…" He leaned back in his booth and put his hands behind his head. "No, none of the pokemon present will do."

Shayla cocked her own eyebrow. "Well? What about you?"

Kaiyou seemed surprised by this question, but then his shock settled into the smirk he usually wore. "Me? I'm cynical and pessimistic."

Tai scoffed. "Never would have guessed…"

The Dark Legendary didn't seem to hear Tai's remark and kept talking. "I think I know of a pokemon… but I doubt we could find a trainer before Anubo lays waste to this pitiful planet…" He looked out the window and then smiled. "Ah, she's here."

0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o00

We walked out of the diner and saw Yasille in her human form, staring out to the ocean in Sootopolis. I guess she heard us coming because she turned and looked us over. She was so beautiful in the sunlight -her golden hair seemed to shine and glow on its own in the day. She saw Kaiyou and her face broke out into a wide smile. "Brother…"

I looked back to Kaiyou, who had the most wonderful smile on his face. He stepped forward and held his arms out to his sister. "Little brat," he said softly.

Yasille squeaked in delight, and then ran at full speed to tackle her brother. She plowed into him and then wrapped her arms securely around the Dark Legendary's neck. She then began to mutter delightfully into his shoulder. I heard him chuckle and then he pulled her off and then ruffled her golden hair.

"How are you, sister?" he asked a little anxiously. She looked up at him and then smiled.

"Ame na horo!" she shouted. "I missed you for so long! How are you…" I looked at her face, which was full of confusion. Kaiyou looked down and then cocked his head.

"What?" he asked, and then Yasille's face became pale.

"You… Why do you smell like an ultra ball?" She looked up at her brother. "Kaiyou, have you been…"

He smiled and waved the matter off with his hand. "It's all right, Yasille. Don't worry about it. We have much larger threats to deal with."

At first, Yasille seemed confused for a moment, but then her beautiful face broke out into another smile. "Oh, I'm so happy… I was mortified when they killed you… But now, after so long, you're here and… and…" She let her head fall back to her brother's wide shoulder and began sobbing happily into his shirt. Behind me, I heard Tai say softly, "Aww… It's… It's so heartwarming…" I looked and saw him sniffling. Saji stared down at him like the idiot Tai was. "I think going to cry…"

Saji hit the jolteon on the head. "Pull yourself together, man…"

I chuckled lightly and then, I felt a wave, much like a storm gives off before it hits. However, this was no storm. I shuddered at the feeling it gave off. It was a cold, harsh, foreboding feeling. I looked to the sky and saw a figure slip over the sun through the hole in the mountain. Apparently, Kaiyou and Yasille felt it as well, because they sprang to their feet and looked to the sky in fear.

"We have to get out!" Kaiyou shouted. "We'll be trapped here! He's got the only route out blocked!"

"What?" Shayla cried. "You mean Anubo's-"

Shayla didn't finish her sentence because right then, a shadow ball collided with the ground near our feet and exploded. I was thrown off my feet and into the interior of the mountain. I felt dizzy at first, but then I staggered back to my feet to see Anubo's grinning face through the hole in the mountain.

"Ah, Kaiyou!" he roared. **"You did survive! Amazing. Simply amazing. You know, you remind me of a cockroach- you never seem to just die."**

he roared. 

I looked to my left to see Kaiyou, still in human form, standing defiantly before Anubo, a furious expression sketched on his face.

"Damn you, Anubo!" he shouted over the screams of the citizens. "I'll never rest until I rid Kuvai of you! Parasite! Leech! DEMON! LEAVE HIM!"

Kaiyou's form morphed into his true form, and then he lunged at the giant Anubo. The shadow demon growled and then sent a shadow ball at the advancing Dark Legendary. The two connected, and then Kaiyou was thrown back to the ground, but he landed easily on his feet.

Anubo snarled. **"What I do with Kuvai is my own business, not yours, dog! Now, let's see if you will die properly!" **And then, in his massive black paws, he formed another huge ball of raw energy, and then flung it down upon us.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Ah, finally… I end this chapter… :sighs: I think I'm going to fail Chem and Math this 6 weeks… I really do… I hope I do well on the upcoming tests…

Ja!


	19. Prophecy Fulfilled

YAY! We're almost to 100 reviews:does happy review dance: I'm so happy! The mere fact that you all love this story (especially its characters) as much as I do makes me dance with joy!

Now, this chapter I'm not too proud of. I forced myself to get through it. So, if it seems a little… corny, or half-assed, or just downright horrible, please remember that I tried to make it better, but couldn't.

****

Price for Freedom

Chapter 19

Prophecy Fulfilled

I watched with some fascinated horror as the ball of power grew, and then was thrown down on us. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact, but none came. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see Yasille standing in front of her brother, glowing brightly. It seemed that she had dispelled his attack somehow.

_**Anubo, you fiend!-**_ she roared in anger,_** -Let Kuvai's mind be his own! Lest you want my power to purify your disgusting black heart!-**_

Anubo's laugh resounded in ear and mind. **"You are as stupid as your brother. You've tried to defeat me once, what makes this time any different? You may be the pure-hearted pokemon, she-wolf, but where is the trainer? Besides, I'll kill you all before you get the chance to even search for a trainer!" **Then, he lunged down through the hole and collided into the ocean, creating a tidal wave that engulfed half the city.

Water came at us in a huge wall of blue, and before I could think, water had swallowed me as well. I felt myself being tossed and turned by the current, and by the time I regained my wits, I had no idea which way air was. I knew I couldn't open my eyes in sea-water, so I didn't attempt it. My brain began to panic. My lungs began to burn. My throat suddenly felt pushed on, like someone was trying to choke me. My heart pounded in my chest. I needed air!

_All right, Ayako, _I told myself._ Calm down. Remember what Mom told you when you were little… I then saw my mother in my head looking at me. _It was the very first time I had swam in the lake near our burrow, and she was telling me what to do._ "…and if you don't know which way is up, then let yourself float. Once you can feel which way the water is carrying you, swim in that direction. The water will never fail you… Ayako, are you listening to me?"_

I smiled inside. I let my body go limp, and then I let the water slosh me around. Then, I began to feel the pressure lighten and I swam frantically in the direction buoyancy was pulling me, and finally, I found air.

I took a huge gulp of air and looked about me. Anubo was now inside the mountain, and Kaiyou was using thunders against the great shadow. Yasille was standing on a building, shooting out bright beams of light at Anubo. I looked for the others and found them scattered, the closest of which were Tai and Saji. Some part of me sighed in relief, and I paddled over to them to their spot on a ceiling of a flooded building.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked breathlessly. Tai turned to me, his wet fur flinging water everywhere, and smiled.

"Yeah, we were the ones worried about you," he replied in what seemed like relief. "When we saw you just floating up to the top like that… We were really scared." I saw Saji in the corner of my eye shake his head and point to Tai, mouthing the words "it was him". I began to snicker, and Tai, out of confusion turned his head to the scizor, who was caught in the act of mouthing. Tai was about to say something to the scizor when Kaiyou was flung into the wall behind us.

The pain knocked the wind out of me and I crumpled to the tiled ceiling top. I looked behind me for Kaiyou's black form, but when I saw nothing, I began to worry. Then, I felt a poke in my shoulder. Saji pointed to the top of the mountain and then said, "That Kaiyou guy is acting like he's possessed…"

I looked at Anubo's face and saw Kaiyou running about it, (I supposed he used the Void to get there…) slashing and biting at whatever flesh he came in contact with. Yasille kept firing the beams of light into Anubo's head, missing Kaiyou by mere inches from my point of view. Then, it seemed Anubo had enough.

**"Damn dogs!"** he shouted in rage.** "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"** At that moment, his colossal, clawed black paw raked across the wall of the mountain, causing rocks to fall down upon us. I looked up in horror and then dove into the water to try and escape the falling boulders.

I stayed near the side of the building to try and avoid the slabs of granite stone plummeting towards me. I only hoped Tai and Saji could have gotten away from them too. Once I thought the rocks stopped falling, I resurfaced and then faced a horrible spectacle.

Tai and Saji hadn't been as lucky as I had when the rocks came down. Both were half-buried beneath stone and cement, and I knew Icould only carry one to where Shayla and Illauna were staying. Only one could be helped. It was then that Eclipse's enigmatic words made sense.

"I must tell you…" he began softly, "…that if you continue on this path, it will lead you to more pain than ever."

Since he was to my left side, I turned to face him, completely astounded and appalled of what I had just heard. "What?" I asked of him, and he turned to open a different portal.

"The path that you are on now," he repeated, as if that would clarify everything. "There are two fates of which I cannot see… It is too clouded. Too uncertain. There are too many variables that could change… but one thing I am certain. There is one line that ends abruptly. One life that will cease to exist -and it will be someone close to you." He stared at me. "I believe you already know this, don't you?"

I took in a shuddering breath. The choice was before me. The scizor or the jolteon?

My eyes darted to each frantically. I couldn't just pick one… but if I didn't act fast, they would both die from being smothered. I felt my heart quicken in panic, and my feet hopped in indecision. I had to act fast, but how could I choose? How could I choose for one of them to live and the other not?

Saji's strained voice brought me out of my frantic reverie. "Demi," he said in a harsh whisper, "Just get these rocks off of us. Use your ice beam to freeze, then cut them with slash…"

I nodded hurriedly, and then did as he had told me. They were now free, and I loaded the now unconscious and battered Tai onto mylong back. I reached with my teeth and grasped Saji's arm, but he took it back from me.

"No," he said, "I'm fine. You get Tai to Shayla. I'll be all right." He then got to his claws and knees, and staggered to his feet. I looked at him worriedly. Bright blood was slowly leaking out of puncture holes in his steel body.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He nodded and pointed to the other side of the mountain, where Shayla was. "Now go -Tai can't last forever like this." I nodded. I didn't have to take a look at the jolteon to know how badly injured he was. I could smell the blood. With one last nod of our heads, we parted ways. As soon as I went into the Void, Anubo had completely demolished the building Saji, Tai and I had been standing on. I looked back through the veil of black to see if Saji survived, but I didn't see him. There was nothing there. _Oh lord,_ I thought, _Did he just... _However, Tai's weak moans brought me out of my reverie and I ran.

I ran through the Void like my life was on the line. Through the black veil of the Void, I saw what was happening. Kaiyou looked pretty bad, but he was still tearing away at Anubo. Raikou, Articuno, Segalla, Gruzog, Moltres and Entei were out as well, fighting with all their might. Yasille was still pelting Anubo with multiple beams of bright light, which actually seemed to be doing some damage. I finally saw Shayla's outline and jumped out. She was startled to see me, but then she saw Tai's crumpled form and took his gently into her arms.

"My God…" she said in a horrified, quaking voice. "It's all right, Tai, I've got you." She pulled out a max potion to keep Tai from dying and sprayed it on him. He flinched, but then relaxed in her hold. She looked at me and asked, "Are you hurt, girl?"

I shook my head and she stood up. I looked about me and saw Amburna and Shoko nearby, not looking too hot themselves. Illauna was clutching her side, one of Shayla's jackets against a wound. I looked back up at Anubo, who had just knocked Kaiyou into the water with a wide sweep of his huge arm. I felt the dull pain and then watched in horror as the Dark Legendary struggled to crawl to the top of a flooded building. For a while, he laid there, motionless.

Yasille was enraged. Her beams became bigger, stronger, brighter. Anubo merely snarled down at her and hit her with his massive paw, effectively shutting her up for the moment. He took a look around and then began to laugh.

**"How wonderful!"** he proclaimed.** "The two greatest threats of mine are now down and out. This shall be my greatest victory."** He turned to Yasille, who was struggling to get up. Two of her legs seemed to be broken.

**"Ah, Yasille,"** Anubo said condescendingly.** "How far you have fallen. I guess ever since the original murder of your brother, you have partially gone insane. You used to have such tremendous power, that of which I actually used to fear. But now look at you. Weak, trembling, barely holding on to your life. Your powers of the Light Element do you no good in this battle."** He then took a long, deep breath, as if relieved. **"You know, Buganti was so set on being your mate, it was disgusting. And now, I can finally crush him with your death."** He held up his gargantuan, clawed paw and then smiled. **"Good bye, Child of Light!"**

I watched in horror as he brought down his paw with a force that I was sure nothing could survive. However, at the last possible moment, the attack was diverted into the mountain wall. I blinked in utter confusion. Why, after that dramatic monologue, would he do such a thing? I looked to his face, which was angry and contorted. He began to roar and growl and scream in an unknown, ancient language I didn't understand. His eyes flashed red, then white, then black. All of us slowly backed away, unsure of what else to do.

Then, I saw a small thing begin to protrude from Anubo's forehead. I heard Shoko's soft voice whisper, "Eww… he's growing a pimple…"

Amburna whacked him on the back with her tail. "Even if he was, it wouldn't cause him this much pain…"

I was about to retort myself when the growing thing popped off, and then fell into the water. Anubo seemed distraught for a moment, but my attention was diverted when Kaiyou dived into the water after the thing.

A little moment later, Kaiyou resurfaced with what looked like a human adult halfway in his mouth. Shayla took the man gently, and then laid him out on the slightly wet roof. He was pale, and had a slightly gaunt face. He had matted, messy black hair that went down a little past his shoulders, and looked about as old as Kaiyou did in human form. His clothes -a T-shirt, jacket, and jeans- were all black. I had never seen him before, and yet, I knew this man. I knew him from the three, distinct horizontal black marks on both of his cheeks. Red eyes flashed in my mind. "Kuvai…?" I whispered.

I heard Kaiyou panting heavily beside me. **_(That's right, girl. That's him, not possessed by Anubo. Like this, he's actually agreeable... at times.)_**

I turned to him. "I thought Kuvai was a ghost." I reached and poked said person with my paw, feeling warm mass as I did. "This guy certainly isn't. He has a pulse. He has body heat. The only thing he's missing is a scent… And he's human."

Kaiyou shrugged with his beaten wolf shoulders. **_(I don't really know how he does it. Don't know, don't particularly care. He's a shadow -he can do what he wants.)_**

I cocked my eyebrow. "Even solidify and defy the laws of nature and physics?"

Kaiyou gave me a glare. **_(Who told you about those?)_ **

**"Pardon to interrupt," **I heard**, "But I'm not done with your pathetic little band. In fact, I'm going to kill you all right here and now! Actually, I may even possess some of you for some amusement…" **I turned and saw Anubo rising from the rubble of some other demolished building. His glare turned into a smile that sent shivers down my spine. At first, I thought he was looking at me, but then I realized he was staring at Kaiyou. **"Yes, you will do nicely. I remember the first time I experienced your power. You have had to have gotten stronger since then…"**

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yasille struggle to her feet. **_-You will keep your disgusting mind away from all of us!- _**she shouted defiantly in our heads. She then leapt from her rooftop to ours and took a protective stance in front of Kuvai and Kaiyou, even though she was badly wounded herself. This act of dignity seemed hilarious to Anubo.

**"You ARE delusional!"** he cried.** "Do you really think, with me as your opponent, that you have the slightest possibility of winning this fight? Have you even seen your wounds? Or your brother's, for that matter?"**

She snarled, but didn't say anything. I gulped. I wanted to do something, but I knew that if I tried to interfere, then I would end up like Tai… or Saji. I looked up helplessly at Anubo, and then a sense of dread filled me. Was this how I was to die?

I then felt a cold hand on my rump and turned to see Kuvai looking at me with a piercing stare. It was rather unnerving… I didn't know what he was. He had no scent, other than a lingering stench of death. He was like a big thing of nothing, and he was staring at me with drilling, red eyes. I stared back, and then, to my relief, he looked at Yasille in front of him.

"Yasille," he said softly, "Create a shield around us. I think I know how to get us out of this mess…"

Anubo laughed and said something about our efforts being futile, but I didn't listen. It was really getting old fast, and I was more interested in what Kuvai wanted. He got up and then took a look around him. His eyes paused on Illauna, who I could tell wasn't doing so hot. Her pokemon now surrounded her in a protective circle. He then looked at Kaiyou and asked, "Who's she?"

Kaiyou shrugged. **_(Local trainer. Trains Legendaries, as you can see. She doesn't keep them forever, just releases them back into the wild.)_**

Kuvai blinked and then chuckled. "And she was here the whole time…"

I saw Kaiyou's mind turning this sentence over. **_(What do you mean? You're speaking in riddles again.)_**

Kuvai shook his damp head and chuckled softly at the Dark Legendary's expense. "Kaiyou, how can you be so blind? That's the trainer we need, right over there."

Kaiyou blinked, then looked to Illauna. **_(Her?) _**he asked in a slightly shocked tone. **_(Really? Huh. Well, what do you know. Makes me feel a little sheepish.)_**

Shayla was more than a little mad. "WHAT! You're telling me that all of this-" she made a sweep with her arm to the decimated city before us, "could have been prevented! You're kidding! You have GOT to be kidding!"

Kaiyou glared at her. **_(Don't get your panties in a twist. We couldn't have known. Besides, it's better now than later. Sister!)_**

Yasille, who had been defending us against Anubo's attacks for the past few minutes, looked over her shoulder. I could tell she was strained. **_-What is it?-_**

Kaiyou gently picked Illauna up in his jaws and then threw the trainer at his sister. **_(Catch!) _**he yelled.

Illauna landed on Yasille's cream-colored back with a thud. She, Yasille, turned to the trainer on her back, and then, began to glow. I stepped back a couple of feet from the growing light the two were emitting. I began to pant. I found my legs shaking from stress. For some reason, this light hurt me.

Kaiyou brushed against me and stood between me and the light. This helped a little. **_(I know, girl,) _**he said reassuringly. **_(Just plow through it. It'll be over in a minute.) _**

_What's happening? Why does it hurt me?-_ I asked of him silently. I closed my eyes against the light -it was beginning to blind me.**_(It hurts you and I because we are Darklings. My sister is the last of the Light Element. Her power harms us, ours harms her. Light can overpower Dark, and Dark can overpower Light. They are interchangeable. Because of this, we Darklings cannot survive in the Space, the opposite of the Void. Instead of the center of shadow, it is the center of light. Do you understand?)_**

_Which was why she couldn't handle the Void…_I thought to myself. I relaxed myself and then strained to hear anything that was going on -since I couldn't see it.

Anubo was afraid -I could tell that much from his scent. Fear, anxiety, distress… he smelled like a cornered rattata. **"NO! Impossible! You- you can't!"**

I then heard this high-pitched shriek -from whom, I don't really know. It sounded like a harpy should sound. Then, a crack, a slice, and then an explosion echoed throughout the mountain. I felt a strong wind rush past me, nearly blowing me off my feet. When I almost toppled over, Kaiyou's foreleg braced me. **_(You can open your eyes now, Ayako.) _**he said quietly.

I opened them, and then saw this mass of shadow and darkness swirling in the ocean. It reeked of corpse. Yasille and the now healed Illauna stood triumphantly on a flooded building rooftop, overlooking their felled prey. In the background of my mind, I heard a chant, too inaudible to understand, but loud enough to where I couldn't ignore it. I looked up at the Dark Legendary to see his face void of emotion. When I cleared my throat, he shook his head, as if breaking out of a trance, and then beamed down at me. The chant disappeared.

**_(Well girl, how do you feel?)_** he asked jovially.**_ (You just witnessed the death of the biggest pain in the ass I have ever known. More of one than myself.)_**

Behind Kaiyou, I saw Kuvai turn toward us and scoff. "No one's more of a pain than you, Kaiyou, no matter how much you wish for it."

He laughed, relieved and weary at the same time, and began to transform into his human form. _**(Now now, Kuvai, no need to g**et mean. Besides, I was the one w_ho saved your ass when you fell into the water half-dead, and what thanks do I get? News that I am a pain in the ass." He shook his now human head. "Your gratitude just overwhelms me."

Yasille and Illauna had now joined in the group, and we began to laugh. I don't really know why, but we all just started laughing. Whether it was because Illauna had been the trainer we needed all along and our stupidity obliviated us, or Kaiyou and Kuvai were now hitting each other with wit and banter (to which Kuvai was horribly losing), or the fact that Shoko was cowering in a corner because he had seen something that looked like a corpse (but was actually a mangled teddy bear) I don't know. Particularly, I didn't really care. But the moment of mirth and laughter got my mind off of the red eyes, blinding light, and Saji's mangled corpse for just a little bit.

……………………….

Illauna, Kaiyou, Yasille and Kuvai had left for Mount Silver in Johto by the time we found Saji. Amburna had found him, crushed beneath the building that had collapsed after I had jumped into the Void. When she told us, she said that she didn't want to bring him up. There were too many pieces to retrieve.

Even though I hadn't known him very long, I was sad. He seemed courageous, somewhat noble… not that bad of a guy. I hated when the world was rid of one person like that -a decent creature. He didn't deserve to die. Not in the least. But he did. And that kind of injustice boils my blood.

Yet, beside the truly grieving, I couldn't be angry. I just couldn't. When I thought I could spit out a few passionate words, I would see one of my team members, staring at the blue water to where they think Saji could be, crying silently. Shayla didn't lift her head for at least an hour. Tai lay as close as he could and stared at his paws. Shoko let out little mutters in the fire lizard language, probably in some type of prayer to Entei, Moltres or Ho-Oh. Amburna got pretty flowers and the went underwater to put them beside the passed scizor.

I didn't really know what to do. I never have functioned well in the midst of the mourning, and I usually left until things cleared up a bit. But this time, it seemed I would grieve along with them.

When the sun had gone down and everything was quiet, Shayla stood up shakily, and said in a quivering voice, "We can't sit here forever. I'll miss Saji. I truly will. But we're going to have to move on one way or another. Let's get out of here. We need a place to sleep. We've had a hard day. Saji'll understand."

We all nodded. Shayla, with a quivering intake of breath, climbed on Shoko's sagging shoulders and called us back into our pokeballs.

…………………….

Aww… I almost cried…

Well, this chapter is done, but this is not the end of the story! W0ot. And those of you who want to murder me -at least it wasn't Tai!

I'll be writing a lot this week. Hopefully, I can push out another chapter soon.

Ja!


	20. Moving On

YAY! We've reached to 100 reviews! It makes me so happy!

Wow… I never imagined that this fic would go so far as to 20 chapters! But here I am, writing it. Ah, it makes me so happy. And it takes my mind off of the two possible failing six week grades I'm almost positive I'm going to get. :( God, I hope my teachers have enough pity to just push me up to passing…

Anyway, I just looked "Kaiyou" up in my Japanese -English dictionary and it either means "ocean" or "ulcer". I'll let you determine which one it is. And, from Kingdom Hearts, Sora means "sky", Riku means "land" and Kairi means "nautical mile".

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 20

Moving On

After we had all recouped from the battle with Anubo, and Saji's death, we made our way to Dewford, the last surviving city after Anubo's rampage. There, many gym leaders opened up makeshift gyms for themselves so they could carry on with business. Shayla also told us that it was the last place with a working pokemon center, so it would have to make do.

Unfortunately, more than half of the trainer population thought the same way Shayla did, and when we got to the tiny little island, there wasn't much room anywhere to rest. Nurse Joy did her part, but she couldn't give us any space in the center. We would have to fend for ourselves.

While in the pokemon center, however, Shayla did get Kazu (she didn't want to replace Saji quite yet) back into the team, bumping our number up to five, to which I was eternally grateful for. I didn't know how much I missed him until I saw his smiling purple face again. Of course, that same smiling face turned melancholy when we told him about Saji. The cynical part of my brain sighed and muttered, _Great. One more sad face to ruin my mood._

In any case, Shayla said she was tired and we needed to find a camping spot so we could go against Wallace, the last gym leader on the list before the Hoenn League. I was surprised she wanted to go after that man so quickly after having one of her pokemon die, but I figured it was a way to take her mind off of Saji. After all, in all the battles I've seen her in, she always went into this other zone. So I dismissed it as a part of her grieving process and followed her to a cave, where she pulled out a blue nylon tent and began to set it up.

"All right everyone," she said in a determined tone, "We're going to be sleeping here for a while, at least until we defeat Wallace and stock up supplies, which will probably take a while since everyone before us has already cleaned the poke mart to its foundations. The pokemon here aren't that difficult to deal with, but just in case, be on your guard. I don't have very many potions, so please don't do anything stupid." With this, she looked pointedly at Tai. "Now, it's getting kinda late, so I'll go ahead and start supper up. You all can go exploring, just don't start any battles, all right?" She looked at me with a steely glare, to which I smiled meekly back at, and then began to retreat into the cave.

Kazu and Tai joined me, leaving the dragons with Shayla. The charizard always helped out with supper, whether Shayla wanted him to or not. Kazu told me he had helped her with meals since he was a little charmander, and he intended to keep the tradition going.

The cave itself wasn't all that bad -I could see well enough in it. The few sableye and geodude that graced us with their presence scattered away before we could even get within firing range. Tai took this as cowardice and began to yell at the startled pokemon, making them retreat even further into the darkness.

We found another camp at a corner of the cave. The tent was a ragged, green thing, with holes littered about the skin. There was a small fire within, giving it a homey, comforting look. We ventured near and saw that the trainer had to be experienced. The trainer himself was about 19 with missheveled, tawny brown hair that was short-cropped and soft-looking. He had striking features -high cheek bones, tanned face, and built muscles in the arm and torso. He lay asleep on his duffel bag with a houndoom, sandslash, milotic, ampharos, arbok and flygon encircling him protectively. The six highly trained pokemon looked at us warily as we approached, but Kazu managed to lower their guards.

"It's all right, friends," Kazu spoke cheerfully. "We don't mean any harm to you or your trainer. We're just kind of bored and are exploring. How long have you been here, in this cave? Where do you hail from?"

The houndoom laughed, a raucous, guttural sound. "Well, aren't we the curious one? You MUST be bored to be pelting us with all of these questions. Well, to satisfy your curiosity, we've been living here for about a week, since we first heard of that huge, evil pokemon rampaging around Hoenn. Our trainer, Isaac, didn't want any of us to get hurt, so we came here. He hoped that the remoteness of this island would keep the monster away. We hail, originally, from many different places. I myself am from the Orre region. Our trainer is from Blackthorn City."

Kazu nodded. "Well, the monster's dead now. I guess you can leave. We're here to restock, since this is the last place standing."

The sandslash's eyes widened. "You're kidding! You mean the monster wiped out all of Hoenn except for this little town? What about the League?"

Kazu shrugged. "As far as major cities go, yes, this is the last one. I don't really know about the League."

Tai smirked. "So I take it you guys are planning to go to the League?"

The flygon smiled. "Hell yeah! We're gonna go and win the thing! Isaac keeps on telling us about it -his big brother went before him and told him what it was like. The brilliant lights, the crowd cheering for you the entire time, oh, I can't wait to go!" He was grinning and clenching his little clawed hands into fists. I smiled myself. This flygon really loved to battle. I could probably get along with him rather easily.

However, the arbok shook her head. "It's going to take us a while, though. With the Hoenn region being in the state like you said, it isn't going to be easy to travel anymore. It's just better to stay here and wait until things calm down a bit before moving on to the League. It doesn't start up for a few months anyhow."

The flygon frowned at her. "But that's so droll!"

Kazu laughed. "Well, we're all waiting for the League to start up. So how long have you been together, as a team?"

We talked for a long time, with that team. They were really nice. And even when their trainer, Isaac, woke up, he offered us food from their table. We thanked them but refused -much to Tai's dismay. We then left them, going back to our own camp to eat.

………………………….

Night was a long time for me. I couldn't sleep again. Probably due to the fact that I don't do well in caves. I got up from my pallet and went to the mouth of the cave to stargaze. I sighed for some unknown reason and wondered if my family was still okay. If Kaiyou and the others were doing all right. If Saji was happy being free among the stars I was looking at. If my former trainer had died of his wounds Kaiyou had given him like he should. The thought made me smile sadistically. Then, I heard a noise behind me.

I looked to see the houndoom from earlier, walking up to me. I cocked my eyebrow and asked, "May I ask you why you're out here?"

He smiled as he sat next to me. "Same reason as you, probably."

I returned the smile. "Couldn't sleep?"

He turned his amiable gaze to the stars. "Like an insomniac."

I laughed softly, enjoying his company. He wasn't that bad of a guy, to put it bluntly. I wasn't surprised by the fact that he couldn't sleep, though. Houndoom tend to be light sleepers and a cave full of interesting, curious pokemon isn't a good mix with said fire dog.

"Did you lose someone to that monster?" he asked softly, then turned to me with a solemn expression on his face. "Not to be rude or anything, but…"

I nodded solemnly. "We did. A scizor. I didn't know him very well since I'm… kind of new to the team, but…" I saw my vision get blurry. "…but he was still a good friend." I turned away from him and tried to get the image of Saji's corpse out of my mind and asked, "Why do you ask? How did you know?"

Out of the corner of my eye, the houndoom's expression turned to sympathetic. "Your expression. My whole team's wearing it. We lost one too. That's actually why Isaac moved us here. He's not the smartest human, so he didn't think that we could get hurt. But when it went through Fortree, it killed Fenris, the manetric that was with us. I didn't want to say it because the wound's still fresh." I looked at him and saw his own eyes begin to shine with moisture. "He was a good friend of mine. We knew each other since we were pups."

I laughed bitterly. "I often wonder why I let myself get captured. Why did I let that damn ultra ball hit me at that moment? Why didn't I just get out of the way? Was it because I was weak? Because I had no will?" I shook my head. "I really wish… sometimes… that I hadn't let myself be captured… otherwise, I wouldn't have to go through this. Life has really gone downhill since I was captured."

The houndoom laughed in agreement. "But it makes us stronger."

I half-glared at him. "So says the average trainer."

He laughed again. "So says the average dumb-ass."

We talked for a long time. I found that his name was Loki, after a pagan god some humans worshipped. He had been owned twice before, once abandoned as a pup since his original trainer found she didn't want him anymore, and the second trainer had tied anchors to his horns and left him in the sea to drown after the houndoom disobeyed an order. Isaac had found him on the beach and Loki stuck with him ever since.

It was nice to talk to another darkling, since I was now deprived of Kaiyou's presence. But he didn't really count since I felt I couldn't talk freely with him. Even with his casualness around us, he was still a Legendary. There are rules of conduct with Legendaries that must be obeyed, no matter how friendly and easygoing they may be.

We kept talking until the stars began to disappear with the approach of dawn. However, when he asked me my name, and I told it to him, he stared at me strangely and the conversation paused for a moment.

"What?" I asked. The sudden change in his expression startled me.

"Ayako…" he said slowly. "You said that was your name?"

I nodded slowly. I really wasn't liking the way that this conversation was going. "Yes… Why do you ask?" I asked softly.

"I recall battling a pokemon -a mightyena to be precise- saying something about an absol named Ayako. Isaac wanted to capture him, but he was really stubborn. He said that he wanted to find you. Do you know a mightyena?"

I was a little scared now. Why did Hicha want to find me? And why was he a wild pokemon now? "Why?" I asked, not really sure I wanted to know the answer.

He shrugged. "He said we wanted to find you and make you his mate, I guess. I don't really know. He was a little vague on the details. But what I do know is that he wants you to be his mate and 'take you back to where you belong'." He looked at me. "Is that… a bad thing?"

I was startled and a little mortified. Why was Hicha so obsessed with me? Why me? Why wouldn't he leave me alone? At my silence, Loki poked me in my side. "Are you all right?" he asked.

I nodded absently and he sat back on his haunches. "Yeah, yes, I'm fine," I replied distractedly. My mind was frantically going in circles. Hicha never talked about him wanting me to be his mate! _WHAT THE HELL?_

Loki turned and looked over my head to the innards of the cave, where Isaac was calling for him. He stood up and then gave me a little nudge with his snout on my cheek, a friendly gesture for four-legged pokemon. "Nice talking to you, Ayako. Don't let sadness get the best of you -you're too strong of a girl to let things like that get you down. Maybe we'll see each other in the League."

I nodded again and then let my distressed mind resume in its raging reverie. Last I saw him, Hicha wanted me dead. How could he have such a change of heart? Did that ninetails, Koka, do too good of a job?

I felt a small paw in my back and turned to see Kazu's smiling face behind me. "Breakfast's ready. I assume you didn't sleep?"

I shook my head slowly and let out a yawn that I didn't know was there. "No… but I did get to talk with the houndoom we met yesterday. He was nice." Hicha was forced out of my head as I talked to Kazu.

Said espeon chuckled. "That's good. Tai was beginning to worry about you. He said something about 'Xena getting kidnapped' or stuff to that extent. But nevermind that, you must be hungry. Let's go and eat -Shayla's letting us have some of her syrup."

I followed the espeon to the tent, where inside, Shayla was desperately trying to keep Tai from eating everyone else's share of syrup. She then put him in his poke ball, to which we were all relieved. The syrup tasted wonderful on my food, mixed in with the berries and spices she always gave me with my meal.

After we had finished and Tai was let back out of his ball, Shayla said we were going to fight Wallace, and we needed to be at full strength. It was here that I started to feel my sleepless night when we started to make our way to him.

Wallace's makeshift gym was actually located on a little spit of land half a mile out to sea, so we got to swim there. When we reached his little island, I saw a little shelter behind a rock that probably served as his home. He himself was sitting on a lawn chair under an umbrella with sunglasses and a fishing hat on. When he noticed us climbing out of the water, he began to laugh. "I assume that you want to battle?" he asked of Shayla, who didn't look too intimidating with her clothes and hair sopping wet.

She stood to her full height, all of which is about 5'6", and then put up her fists as if she herself were going into battle. "You bet, mister, so get all that crap out of the way and battle us!"

He smiled and then took the sunglasses off, which revealed striking blue eyes. "Very well," he replied in a low, intimidating voice. "I hope you know what you're getting into."

Shayla's own brown eyes sparked with battle lust. "I wish the same for you."

He smiled and then sent out his first pokemon, which happened to be a luvdisc. Shayla called Tai out and he went happily, saying he couldn't wait to fry it and serve it with chips. The heart-shaped fish didn't know what hit it when Tai's thunderbolt came down.

Wallace frowned. I guessed he hadn't counted on his first pokemon being felled in one hit. He brought out another ball from his waist and threw it into the air. In mid-arch, it exploded and revealed a whiscash. Tai backed away slowly. If he wasn't careful, he could be in serious trouble. Shayla called him back and sent Amburna in, telling the dragonair to use ice beam.

The whiscash survived. Amburna, now at a loss, fell victim to the thing's earthquake. Fortunately, she survived it and then used a surf attack against the ground/water type. It wasn't so lucky, and then fainted at the dragonair's hands.

Wallace was getting a little nervous now. I figured the other three pokemon he possessed would all become victims to Tai, but he didn't give up. I had to hand it to the human, not giving up in the face of hopeless odds. (One of the few redeeming qualities of the human race.) The next pokemon he sent out was a sealeo. Amburna gasped and then floated back a bit. Ice and dragons don't mix.

"Amburna, come back!" Shayla cried. She looked down at the jolteon beside her and said, "All right Tai, it's your turn again."

Tai gave a little "Woo!" and jumped back into the battle. Unfortunately, the sealeo used "sheer cold" and wiped Tai out in one move. The poor jolteon dropped to the ground with a sick thud after the ice blast hit him. Shayla was furious.

"Oh, you want to play that way, huh?" she asked with gritted teeth as she picked the downed jolteon off of the arena ground. "Fine. Let's. Demi, get in there!"

I snarled and then jumped into the ring, staring at the sealeo with angry eyes. I wasn't about to let this giant tub of lard get past me. "Demi!" I heard behind me, "Use thunderbolt! Faint the bastard!"

Gladly, I ran to the seal and dug my claws into the rubbery flesh, electrocuting it as I did so. The sealeo howled in pain, and then fell limp under my paws. I gracefully jumped off and back to my spot in the arena.

My next opponent was seaking. Not too difficult. One thunderbolt knocked it out. It was then that I saw defeat brew in Wallace's eyes. He knew he was done. But then, as I saw him stare at his last pokemon hidden in the depths of the poke ball, a glint of hope glimmered in those sky blue eyes of his. He looked to Shayla, then me, and then sent out the anchor to his team.

It was a milotic. And even though it was a guy, he was beautiful. He looked down at me with those beautiful crimson eyes and then swished his red and blue scaled tail about him. Shayla's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I shot a thunderbolt at him.

He howled in pain, but then he came back and, at Wallace's command, used a water pulse attack. And then, at that moment, for some strange reason, the world went crazy.

I was really dizzy and confused. I didn't know which way the milotic was. "Demi!" I heard from some direction, "Demi, snap out of it! He's to your right! Use thunderbolt on him!"

I swerved my swimming head to the right, but I didn't see anything. All I saw were images of the world around me being jumbled up and going everywhere, as if I had spun around for a long time. I couldn't get a straight view of anything. Where was the milotic?

I found out where he was when he rammed his body into mine with a body slam attack. I was thrown into a boulder -which bore my imprint- and fell to the sandy ground. I opened my eyes and saw the same dizzy, confusing world around me. I struggled to stand, but my balance was off. I fell to the sand again.

The milotic scoffed. "Dear me, are you confused?" I frantically tried to pinpoint his location from the sound of his voice (since my vision wasn't really helping), but he kept moving. He was smarter than that to let his opponent have an opening. "Here, let me help you straighten up."

"Milotic!" I heard Wallace's now confident voice cry. "body slam again!"

The milotic hit me against the boulder again, squishing me against it. I figured that some bones had to have been broken right then, (or at least bruised) and when I tried to get up, my legs wouldn't obey me. I fell to the sand again. My mind clicked. I was paralyzed!

I heard Wallace's laughter. "You really had me worried, absol. I thought my milotic would be done in by your electric attacks, which I admit I didn't really expect. But now, with you laid to waste like this, I don't have a doubt that I will win. Ta ta!" he sang. "Milotic, body slam!"

Suddenly, the world cleared and I could make sense of everything again. With unwavering determination and pure frustration on my side, I rushed forth myself, charging with sparks flying around my running form. We clashed, and I sent the milotic flying into another boulder, where he fell and didn't get back up.

Wallace was flabbergasted as the milotic returned to his poke ball. "You beat me…" he whispered as if he couldn't believe it. Then his shock turned into a smile and he went over to Shayla and held his hand out for her to shake. "What a wonderful battle. I will remember it for many years to come. Now, what you've been waiting for…" He opened the blue vest he was wearing and pulled out a metal pin in the shape of a triangle with a little triangle cut out of it. "Take it," he said proudly. "It's yours."

Shayla took it from his hands and then danced around in the sand crying, "We did it!" and "That one's for you, Saji!" Eventually, we all joined in on her rejoicing and danced around on the sand with her, happy as can be.

She looked down at us and then cried, "Next stop: Hoenn League!"

I smiled and then cried for joy myself. I was looking forward to the Hoenn League, a wonderful competition I had heard so much about. I wanted to battle stronger pokemon and prove that they were all pushovers. I was happy we were going.

So why was I filled with such dread?

…………………………..

Woo! That chapter was a little better. :sigh: I guess I'm not losing my touch… yet…

Thanks for all of your reviews! They fill my heart with joy!

Ja ne!


	21. Victory Road

WOO! I love you guys so much! Your reviews keep me happy. I love knowing what you all think. And yes, Kaiyou will be making another appearance. I'm happy that you love him that much to ask.

Enjoy!

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 21

Victory Road

I found that the road to the Hoenn League was long, arduous, and very boring.

We had to travel by sea, first of all. And seeing as how the non-flyers didn't want to swim the whole way there, we were placed back into our poke balls until further notice. Every now and then, a dumb trainer who didn't know any better would challenge us and then we would have to pummel them, but other than that, there was no action or amusement to be had.

We would stop on meal breaks, of course. And even then, we were all bored out of our minds. Even Tai couldn't find anything better to do than stare at the water and begin laughing whenever a ripple appeared. Although, I found amusement when I pushed Tai into the water, but that is beside the point.

A few days after we had set out to sea, we reached a small pokemon center after scaling a waterfall. We rested there and then found that we were now at the entrance to something called "Victory Road", the final test of the trainers and their pokemon before they reach the Hoenn League. Tai told me that every League had one, and they were always really annoying. I soon found that he was absolutely right.

……………………….

It was very dark inside of Victory Road since it was a huge cave. We walked in and gazed in awe of the high ceiling and stalactites pointing down at us. Shayla turned to Shoko, who nodded and then made his tail flame burn even brighter so we could see better.

The cave itself was rocky, with no clear-cut path we could somewhat follow. I saw footprints on the ground and smelled human scents, but none of them followed in the same way. Some went to the left, some went to the right, and some went straight. I frowned. The trainers before us must have been as lost as we were. I heard Shayla take a deep sigh as she turned to us. "All right, Kazu," she said softly. "Lead the way."

I saw Kazu give a little nod and he stepped forward, looking about the cave. His eyes brightened with a light purplish hue, and he looked to the right. "That way," he said as his eyes dimmed to their natural color. "We go to the right."

Shayla nodded and let Kazu take the lead of the group. I guessed his telekinetic powers allowed him to see the path we needed to get out of there.

I don't really recall how long we walked around in that dark cave. Every so often, we would find a discarded item lying around, or a ladder. The ladders helped us along the way since they were some kind of marker for the nonexistent path. It was still rather dull, since the only pokemon we really saw were lairon and hariyama. Boring. Although, things did pick up when Tai fell into a hole.

"Gah!" he cried as he disappeared from all of our sights. At first, I thought he had found another ladder hole, but this one was plain. I looked into the mouth of the hole and saw Tai's little yellow form, looking back up at me helplessly.

"Get me out of here!" he called to us. Shayla turned to Kazu.

"Kazu, get him out of there," she said quickly. "I have a bad feeling about this." The espeon nodded and then his eyes shone a brilliant purple color. I looked down and saw the same color surround Tai. Then, he was slowly lifted off the ground.

Shoko scoffed. "Why didn't you just go AROUND the hole, Tai? Or maybe you were too busy thinking about food to notice it?"

When Tai's feet reached the rocky ground, he snarled at the charizard. "It wasn't there before then! I just stepped on it and then the floor collapsed! It's not my fault!"

"Quiet you two," Shayla spoke in an annoyed tone. "I don't want to hear it. Shoko, don't give Tai a hard time. Tai, be more careful and you won't get ridiculed. Understand?" The two quarreling pokemon glared at each other and then began to walk again.

It wasn't long when another mystery hole snagged another one of our team. Kazu, who had been walking a few meters ahead of the team, found another hole when he was about to change direction. It looked like he caught himself halfway, but I didn't see since I fell into a hole with Amburna.

I fell head-first into it, and it didn't feel all that great when the ground broke my fall. Amburna landed on top of me and then looked around. "Where are all of these holes coming from?" she asked no one in particular. I got to my feet and tried to estimate how far away we were from the mouth of the hole. I guessed about ten or fifteen feet. Amburna turned to me and said, "Get on my back. We'll get out of here."

I nodded and clung onto her long, lithe dragon body as she began to levitate and make her way to the lip of the hole. Right when we were about to get out, a net came down over the mouth. "What the heck?" I said and then saw figures walking around above us, putting nets over what I guessed to be more holes. I heard Tai shouting, and then realized that the others were trapped in holes as well. Amburna and I looked at each other, worried over who was trying to capture us.

"I love the fact that Victory Road had so many trainers with such wonderful pokemon," I heard a lofty feminine voice coo. "Look at this espeon. He's just gorgeous."

"You bastards stay away from my pokemon!" I heard Shayla's angry voice shout. A man's rough, scratchy voice began to laugh at Shayla's threat.

"Quiet, bitch," he growled. "You're not what we want. You're pokemon are ours now, so give it up."

Shayla's voice growled and then cried, "Kazu, psychic! Shoko, slam! Everyone, get out of your holes! Kick these bastards' asses! Don't let them get you!"

I smiled and then used ice beam on the net, and then Amburna used a slam against the frozen ropes. It broke easily at the power of her tail. There was a man standing above our hole, and when we broke out, he was caught off guard. I jumped off Amburna and rammed myself into him, knocking him down. I wasn't about to go without a fight.

The woman's voice sounded again. "Get them, dammit! Don't just stand there, tranq them!"

I whirled around at the sound of the woman's voice. I saw her -a tall, blonde-headed woman in her mid thirties. She was pretty on human standards. She wore a long, oriental dress with an eastern-style dragon making its way around her. She wore a similar necklace. She saw me and then aimed a gun at me. I saw her pull the trigger, which released a tranq. I followed my instinct and leapt to the right, making the tranq hit one of her own. She growled and followed my movements with her gun. "Stand still, you little bitch!" she cried in frustration. I ran around her in a zigzag path, making her gun almost useless. She cursed at kept firing at me, but kept missing.

I didn't know what had happened to the others. All I could hear was my own feet pounding into the loose ground, her cursing, and heavy footsteps around me. I didn't hear Shayla shouting, or Tai's battle-talk. Had they been caught?

I could now see more people firing at me as I raced past them. I was starting to get tired. How long had I been running? I then saw a way out of the cul-de-sac I was stuck in and ran all out towards it, not looking back. I heard Shayla's faint voice crying, "Get out, girl! Go! Get help!"

I ran and ran with the men on my tail. I heard the little ticks of the tranqs as they hit the rock wall beside me, or where my foot had just been a second ago. I ran over boulders, down little man-made stairs, and past other trainers in the maze. Then, something caught my gaze. Daylight!

I ran with even more determination towards it, when something pointy and sharp hit my left flank. I stumbled and fell, skidding about twenty feet afterwards. I looked and saw a little red feather sticking out of my leg. _Oh shit, a tranq!_

I pulled it out with my teeth and kept running. I had noticed the men chasing me were having trouble getting over a boulder and I took the chance. If I got out into the public, there was a possibility that they would stop and I could get help. I ran out into the open, where thankfully, were people loitering around, and I dashed to the nearest trainer and pulled on his shirt to get attention.

"Sol!" I cried. "Ab sol sol ab!" I pulled on his shirt as he looked down at me in confusion. "Sol!"

"Crazy absol," he muttered and brushed me off. I looked up at him hopelessly, and then tried to get to another trainer before the bad men got out to me.

I glanced frantically around to see if there were any amiable trainers that would help me. I saw a black-haired girl giving a massage to her crobat and tried to run to her, but my back legs simply collapsed. I felt tired. My mind was becoming fuzzy. _No -the tranq's starting to come into effect!_

I half-dragged myself around the lot, trying to get to the girl with the crobat. Then, I heard a voice on the air.

"Ayako?" I heard behind me. I turned to see Loki, staring at me in worry. "Ayako, is that you?"

I nodded when my front legs became too weak to support my weight. I collapsed onto the concrete, which gave the houndoom a start. "Wha- what's wrong? Are you okay?"

He was about to try and get me onto his back when the gruff voices of the men chasing me stopped him. "Hey! The absol!" I saw them out of the corner of my eye, and I began to growl.

"Whatever you do," I said shakily, "don't let those guys get me. You hear me? They're not my trainers!"

I saw Loki nod and he took a defensive stance in front of me, growling. I tried to stand, but I was too weak; too tired. My eyelids were so heavy. I was just so tired…

So, as Loki fought for me, I let the tranquilizer take me and fell into unconsciousness.

……………………………..

Short, I know. But if I didn't, then this chapter would far too long. Can't have that.

Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! Keep them coming!

Ja


	22. Rescue

I just read that last chapter, and it really did suck. :slaps self: Why did I let myself get that bad? I must have been high or something… This isn't going to be too spectacular either, because it's a low point in the plot (meaning I'm forcing myself to write it) so don't expect too much out of it.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the huge absence. Summer's been here, and that means I have no time whatsoever for the first couple of weeks, due to my undying loyalty to band and drumline. This day is my only free day this week… woo.

However, I am in heaven. I am listening to the "Kingdom Hearts" OST and I love it. Absolutely love it. I melt at the second song. Oh, and I finally got an Eagles CD. Go Hotel California!

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 22

Rescue

I opened my eyes to see Isaac's face, along with Nurse Joy's, staring down at me in worry. I saw that I was in a white room -probably the ER in a Pokemon Center- and that I was lying on my side on a white, futon-like bed. When I began to look around the room, Nurse Joy smiled.

"She'll be all right, Isaac. It was probably a tranquilizer -she'll just feel woozy for a few minutes. After that, she'll be okay."

Isaac looked to the nurse and smiled. "Thank you, Nurse Joy."

The nurse left, and I sat up on my futon-bed. Isaac's hand stroked my white fur gently and said, "Man, girl, you had me worried. When those thugs tried to take you, I didn't really know what to do. You should thank Loki here for finding you when he did -otherwise, those weird goons would have you right now."

I blinked my eyes and turned to my right, where said houndoom was sitting, smiling up at me. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my foggy head. Alas, it failed. "Where am I?" I asked. Loki took the pleasure in answering me.

"You are in the Pokemon Center of the Hoenn League Headquarters -Evergrand City. Where's your trainer and the rest of your team? I didn't see them come out."

My head cleared as my memory came back to me. Flashes of images and sounds rushed past me, like a whirlwind of thought. The woman with the guns in the Oriental dress, the holes, Victory Road… I gasped in realization. _The team!_ my mind cried in terror. _There's no telling where they are now! _I began to get up, but my legs were still too weak to support my weight. I cursed as I fell back onto the white futon.

Loki cocked his head. "What's wrong?" he asked.

I tried to get back up again, but the attempt caused me to fall off the bed and onto the floor. I landed on my side and grunted against the dull pain. This was frustrating. "My team! They're still in there!" I cried. I felt a warm human hand on my shoulder.

"Stay calm, girl," he said soothingly. "Just wait and your body will get better. Just be patient."

I snarled in my growing frustration. I couldn't wait! My recovering body could kiss my furry proverbial ass -I needed to find the others! I staggered back to my feet and began to totter over to the door when a giant wave of power -Nature's power- flowed through me. Ignoring Loki and Isaac's cries for me to stop, I ran outside and flinched. The giant storm I had sensed in route 120 was finally here, and it was a whopper.

The wind was overwhelming and completely deafening. I could barely stand against it. I saw hail beating around me, and the sky was a strange, deep, dark green. Isaac came beside me, and cursed.

"The storm's too strong, girl!" he shouted over the wind. "It's dangerous out here! We need to get back inside!"

However, I wasn't paying attention to his little complaints. The storm wasn't too strong. He was too weak. I was calculating how much energy I would have to use in getting back to the exit of Victory Road when he tried to pull me back inside. In spite of that, I didn't budge. I looked to the sky just in time to see lighting snake its way across the clouds. My mind set, I chose to set out then.

I ran as fast as I could while trying to avoid the hail. It was huge -the size of a baseball. I heard Isaac's now tiny voice carry on the wind. "Wa… f…n… clou… D… wa… fun…l…" I shook it out. Whatever he was trying to say, he could tell me once I got back. I could see my target clearly, even through the raining hail. The entrance wasn't fifty yards from me. Then, another chill ran through me. I looked up to find the clouds begin to swirl threateningly above me.

Then, Isaac's broken message was clear -funnel clouds. I cursed and ran even faster with the impending tornado at my heels. I was so close!

I rushed into the cave exhausted and alone. I looked back outside and saw the pokemon center through the haze of the hail. But not Isaac. I sighed and trotted forward to try and find any trace of my team.

………..

Time passed without my realization. I made my way through the maze of caverns and rocks aimlessly -meandering without conviction. I had found no scents, heard no noises -nothing that pointed me in the direction of my team and trainer. I began to get worried. What if the gang of humans had abandoned Victory Road? What if they went somewhere else entirely?

With this new thought in mind, I heaved a heavy sigh and plopped down onto the rocky terrain. I had gotten myself completely lost, and maybe now I wouldn't be able to find my way back. I turned behind me to try and decipher a trail, but it was useless. I was too tired and frustrated to keep looking.

Then, a sound. A tiny pebble, dislodged from its larger mate from above me. I looked up to see a small hole, something I had never noticed before. I narrowed my gaze. What was up there?

I stood on my hindquarters in order to get a better scent of the thing. It was human. I sniffed again and my heart nearly leapt in joy. That was Shayla's scent!

Now that my hope had been restored, I tried to find a way up to newfound hole. However, to my dismay, I was surrounded by high walls without many footholds. I snarled at the situation. It seemed Fate was laughing at me, though I really didn't appreciate his sense of humor. I looked around the dark cave for any kind of stool or stepping stone, but the only one I found was three yards away from the hole. And I couldn't push that.

I gritted my teeth and looked at the wall in front of me. I stood up on my hindlegs to try and grab some kind of foothold on the wall face, but I didn't find anything useful. I decided to try and propel myself with something and then grab onto the natural sidewalk when I got up to it. I braced myself and then aimed a full-powered thunderbolt at the ground.

Instantly, I flew up and then, quickly passing the entrance, rammed into the ceiling. Numb pain rushed through me and I was hardly aware that I was falling -right until the ground broke my fall.

"OOF!" After a moment, I couldn't seem to be able to move, or even notice my surroundings. It wasn't after a few seconds that after I regained a bit of my bearings, I heard laughter behind me.

I turned to see a mostly white and peach blob behind me, since my vision wasn't back on yet. The blob began to come closer. "Oh, wow girl, that was pretty funny. Is this what you do in your spare time -find new ways to run yourself into walls?"

As he spoke, I tried to recognize the voice. It sounded stupidly familiar. And his scent… I blinked repeatedly as that familiar, soothing, warm feeling washed over me as he approached. It couldn't be…

Kaiyou crouched down on his legs and cocked his head at me. Now that my vision had cleared, I could see that he was poorly stifling a smile. His eyebrow cocked and he said, "What are you doing in this drab excuse for a challenge? I assumed you and Shayla and the others had already gotten out."

I shook my head and cleared what little distance was between us happily. It felt so wonderful to be back with him again. I really didn't know why he was there in the beginning, but the fact that he was, was enough for me. I put my head into his chest and began purring, to which he laughed softly.

"I see you missed me. But seriously, where are the others?"

I sat upright and then looked to the small opening in the wall. "Up there," I answered. "We were ambushed by these morons when we first came, and I was the only one that got out of the cave. I… I'm pretty sure that the others are up there." I tossed my head in the direction of the entrance and turned back to my Lord. He seemed to think things over and then got up.

"That does explain why you made yourself into a white cannon ball…" he began, and, had I human cheeks, I would have blushed. He leaned onto one leg and put his hand to his chin in thought. "You would have made it if you hadn't made it so powerful."

"So…" I started tentatively, "should I try it again?"

He shook his head. "Heavens, no. I'm surprised no one came out here looking because of the ruckus you made the first time." Again, I felt as if I would have blushed. "No, we need to try a different tactic." Then, as if he had been foolish all along, he turned to me, a question in his gold eyes. "Ayako, why didn't you use the Void?"

My eyes widened as I tried to find some excuse -er- reason why I hadn't. When I stood there, mouth open, for about a minute, Kaiyou began to softly laugh and he crouched down again. "I thought not. You don't seem to comfortable using it."

I was stunned, and I furrowed my brow as if offended. "Yes I am! I just… haven't been able to use it as long as you."

Kaiyou's smirk grew into a knowing smile, complete with quirked eyebrow. "Really? Well then, you should have no problem jumping in there and looking for Shayla and the others through the veil of the Void." He stood and then crossed his arms, knowing smile still on, and waited.

I felt a sinking feeling. How could I have been so stupid to not think of the stupid Void? I felt frustrated as I stepped into the shadow of the rock and entered the deep, endless Void. I sighed and then began to walk through the vast, comforting darkness while staring through the veil, that tiny glimmer of life I could see within the safety of the Void. Of course, I thought myself alone until Kaiyou brushed his leg against my side.

I looked to him and said, "I… thought I was going to do this alone. What…"

Kaiyou looked down at me -at this point I could only see his head because of the glowing golden stripes and crimson eyes- and I almost saw a smile in that darkened, wolfish face of his. **_(Let you attempt this thing all by yourself? Surely not. I'd be a very bad Lord of my Element indeed if I let you go by your lonesome. Besides, I wish to discuss something with Shayla.) _**He paused, as if hesitating. **_(And the jolteon. But nevermind that now, dear girl, we have to save them.)_** So with that he made his way to where I was staring out of the veil, where his face was now illuminated a bit more by the dim light.

He sniffed a bit -which was strange, seeing how I couldn't smell anything at all- and then went a bit further down and then, I saw his tail begin to wag. **_(Here they are! My, they were kidnapped, weren't they?)_** I trotted up to where he was and looked through the veil and saw all of my teammates in cages. Shayla herself looked unconscious, sitting in a chair with all of her limbs tied down to it. Her head was lolled to the front, so I couldn't see her face. Shoko and Amburna also seemed to be unconscious. When I took a look at the eevee brothers, however, Tai was quite active. He was pacing feverently around his cage, and seemed to be guarding a sleeping Kazu. I almost stepped out of the Void when Kaiyou put his leg in front of me.

**__**

(Where are you going?) he asked me simply, and I looked up to him with a frown.

"Where else? To save them!" was my answer.

The Dark Legendary "tsk"ed in my head and shook his own slowly from side to side. **_(If you just barged in there, they'd capture you, and then where would you be? If I may, I would like to… distract the pathetic morons for a bit, so you all may escape. Is that all right with you?)_**

I blinked and then looked hard into my Lord's canine face. He was definitely up to something. "What are you going to do?" I said slowly and full of suspicion.

He shrugged with his canine shoulders -it looked awkward to do- and looked away, as if playing the innocent. **_(Oh, nothing. Just something to lead them away from you and the others while you escape.) _**He then looked down at me and smiled, showing off his many sharp, pearly white fangs. **_(Get ready now. Only the two eevee will be able to walk -the espeon will have to levitate everyone else while you go. And…) _**He looked back to the room, where there were now three thugs that I recognized. He reared up on his hind legs and then said a little too happily, **_(Here I go!)_**

He ran out of the Void and straight into one of the thugs -which sent that particular one flying into the wall, where he impaled it- and began to laugh in everyone's heads. Then, he gingerly picked up a sparkling, diamond necklace that had been lying on something of a nightstand. **_(Ha ha ha… Morons! Try and catch me -if you can get out of the wall! HA HA HA!)_**

He then ran out of the room, the two remaining thugs hot on his heels. I shook my head and listened to his telepathic laughter as he led the thugs on the chase. _He's having too much fun with this…_

I stepped out of the Void slowly, making sure that the remaining thug was really out. Since his head was in the rock wall, I assumed so and then began to work my way to the eevee brothers' cage. Tai was rather confused.

"Why did Kaiyou just burst through the wall?" he asked softly, as if he didn't think he believed the sight. "I mean… why is he here?"

I melted the lock with my flamethrower and pulled the door open with my teeth. "He hasn't said why, and I don't really feel like trying to press him for information. That has proved difficult in the past." Tai looked at me funny, but I didn't pay attention to it. I looked past the jolteon to Kazu, who was snoring softly. "Please tell me he's only sleeping."

Tai looked at him and then nudged the purple figure softly with his hind leg. "Come on Kazu," he said softly. "Come on."

Kazu lifted his head and yawned, taking in everything as if the situation were normal. He got up on his feet and began to walk, but ran into the bars and fell down. I stifled a laugh while Tai pushed Kazu in the right direction out of the cage.

"He's been like this ever since we got up here," explained Tai as Kazu went walking around the room, bumping into things as he went. "They've had him on constant tranquilizers, so he's…" The jolteon paused, as if he couldn't find the right word.

"Stoned?" I offered and Tai nodded.

Kazu then ran into the table, and then said promptly, "Oh, excuse me, old lady… I need some radishes…" He bowed slightly to the table and then walked off again, muttering about how radish soup sounded good for the picnic. Tai sighed deeply and then turned back to me.

"Well, how do we get everyone out? Shoko, Amburna and Shayla are out -the three heaviest people here." He tipped his head towards Kazu, who was introducing himself as "Mrs. Cookie" to a chair. "Surely that Kaiyou guy wouldn't expect Kazu to… levitate them, not in his state."

I looked back to the inebriated espeon and replied, "I don't think Kaiyou thought he would be like this…" I looked around helplessly. What to do? There wasn't anyway Tai and I could transport three very large bodies all the way out of Victory road -even if I used the Void. I sat down, trying to ponder, when I saw Kaiyou's human head poke through the doorway.

"My, my, you're slow," he said in a disappointed voice. "You know what a hurry we're in. The thugs can only be deaf to my loud, echoing voice for so long." I looked up at him and pointed a claw at Kazu, who was now talking to Shayla -convinced that she was the magical lamppost that led to the Land of the Elves.

"There is no way he'd be able to levitate three people into the Void like that." I said sternly. Tai nodded, but Kaiyou didn't pay attention to him.

Kaiyou's eyebrow raised at Kazu, who was now shouting at the top of his lungs that he had to get into the Land of the Elves because of the mushrooms that grew there (he needed them for his soup). The Dark Legendary tried to stifle a laugh, but this made Tai a bit angry.

"Hey! I'd like to see you drugged out of your mind and then let's see how sensible you are!" he shouted, somehow offended that Kaiyou was laughing at his brother at a time like this. Though, I had to admit -it was rather funny.

Kaiyou looked down at him, that same knowing smile on his face. "Oh, I know what I'd do. But that isn't for now." He looked back out of the doorway, probably looking for the thugs, and then shouted, "GOD, YOU'RE SO SLOW! I'M UP HERE, YOU PANSIES! NO, NOT THE ZUBAT!" He leaned back inside and his smile got wider.

"Just tell him to juggle Shoko, Amburna and Shayla. Right now, I've got to go again." Just as he was about to leave, Tai caught the hem of Kaiyou's jeans with his mouth.

"Juggle?" Tai cried, outraged, through his teeth. "Juggle!"

Kaiyou nodded, leaned down and popped Tai on the muzzle so the jolteon would let go. "Yes, juggle. Tell him the lamppost will stop being so hard-assed when he juggles the three to the pokemon center." At Tai's incredulous look, he smiled. "Don't worry, it'll work. Now, I have to go." He then jumped down off of the ledge, and waited for the thugs to get in view.

"Hey, you moronic buckets of ostrich slime!" he called. "Why don't you put a compass up your ass -maybe it'll give you a sense of direction!" With that, he turned and ran the other way, angry thugs hot on his heels. I chuckled a bit and then turned back to Kazu, who was now sobbing, muttering softly that he wouldn't get his mushrooms. Tai rolled his eyes.

"Well…" he began uncertainly, "I guess I'll try that Kaiyou's plan. We don't have anything else."

I nodded and then sat where I was and watched. Tai walked up to his brother, hesitated, and said, "I know how you can get to the Land of the Elves."

Kazu's head perked up, watery eyes now hopeful. "Really?" he asked, and Tai nodded.

"Yup. You have to levi -er, juggle- three things all the way to…" he turned to me for help.

"To the Place of Rest," I offered, and Tai nodded.

"Yeah, yeah! 'The Place of Rest'. Then, the magical… lamppost… will grant you entry to the Land of the Elves. What do you say?"

Kazu smiled happily and then nodded. "Yes! I would love to do as you say, oh talking shrubbery!"

Tai's face fell, and became stale. "Right," he muttered and then pointed to Shayla, Amburna, and Shoko. "Lev -er, juggle- these three things. Demi," he turned to me and I nodded, and then went to the wall where I opened up the Void for them.

Kazu opened the cages for Amburna and Shoko, then brought them out, along with Shayla. He broke the chains that were tightly wrapped around her, and then she began to float along with the dragons. Tai led the altered Kazu into the Void, and I followed.

Once inside, Kazu began to comment on the darkness. I made my way to the front, where I saw Tai begin to shake. I smiled.

"Scared, Tai?" I asked, mocking him. He knew it and glared, but then jumped out of the way of a growing bulk of shadow. I wasn't really worried. I knew what it was -just a discharge of darkness within the Void. Tai scurried to my side and I poked my paw on the side of the Void. I opened a portal to the pokemon center -in which Tai immediately leapt into- and Kazu thanked me and went through himself, taking the dragons and Shayla with him. I looked around the Void and called out to Kaiyou as best I could.

__

'Kaiyou!' I cried in my mind, _'Kaiyou, are you okay? Are you coming with us?'_

I waited for a bit, and after a moment, I got my answer.

He sounded giddy. **_(Ha ha, all in time, dear Ayako. I have to return to my companions first, lest they worry.)_**

'Companions?' I asked, confused. _'Who…'_

****

(Oh, come now, Ayako! You should know by now!) And then he muttered, almost to himself, **_(Why would a grown man wear a pink thong?)_**

I wasn't sure I wanted to ask, but I did anyway. '_What in the world…?'_

He laughed lightly in my head. **_(Oh, nothing. Don't worry, Ayako, I'll convince my companions to meet you at the pokemon center in Evergrand. I won't be there immediately… I'll… be a bit late.)_**

Skepticism was dripping in my words. _'Why, exactly?'_

He laughed in my head again. **_(Now, now, no need to be suspicious. Just get to the pokemon center, and my companions will meet you there in a few minutes. Now where is that marker I found…?)_**

Knowing full well that I wouldn't get anything else from him, I sighed heavily and turned to the portal in front of me. I figured that I would find out who his companions were and what he was up to when I went to the pokemon center. Shaking my head at my rather silly Lord, I jumped into the swirling black portal into the pokemon center, bracing myself for a bit of insanity.

……………………..

Oh my Gosh, I finished the chapter! Amazing!

And Kaiyou makes his reentrance! Woot! I was going to have it later on, but since I was stuck in such a rut, I decided to have him in now. I'm happy I did it! It gave me enough inspiration to be able to finish this chapter that has been sitting incomplete in my computer for God knows how long… three months? Four? I don't know. You are all very patient. Thank you!

Ja!


	23. Acceptance

I hate region music. It needs to die.

Prepare yourselves for one long chapter -you guys deserve it!

**__**

Price for Freedom

Chapter 23

Acceptance

By the time I got out of the Void, amazingly, Shayla, the dragons and Kazu were back to their normal selves. Kazu was embarrassed beyond reason that he had acted like that -thinking he could get to the Land of the Elves and whatnot. But he could have sworn that the shrubbery he was talking to said he could get there…

Anyway, not a few minutes after that, the door to the pokemon center (we were in the lobby) opened to reveal three figures, who I recognized as Illauna, Kuvai and Yasille, who were very, very soaked by the rain. Illauna removed her black sunglasses (how she was wearing them in a dark, stormy day as this, I don't know) and took a look around the center. When she saw Shayla and the rest of us, her stoic face turned into a slight smile.

"I should have known," she muttered. Kuvai seemed to notice us, but kept distant. Yasille, however, was completely delighted to see us again.

"Oh how wonderful!" she exclaimed as she trotted over to Shayla. "I was wondering what my brother meant when he said there was a surprise waiting for us at the pokemon center -I didn't think it would be you!" She hugged Shayla -who was a bit surprised- but then she drew back.

"Oh dear -I completely forgot I was soaked…" Yasille moaned to herself. "Now there's a wet spot on your shirt…"

Shayla shrugged. "It's okay. I don't mind."

However, Yasille was already on the way on getting a towel, and Shayla's comment went unheard. Illauna sat down on a wooden bench beside a teenage boy (who soon abandoned his seat due to Illauna's unwavering stare) and crossed her legs. "So, Shayla," she began casually, "I assume you're gonna take the Hoenn League?"

Shayla nodded and clenched her fists. "Oh yeah! This is going to be my third one, and I won't settle for anything less than number one!"

Kuvai scoffed over in his corner, where he was leaning against the wall. "All of the trainers here are thinking the exact same thing, you know."

Shayla narrowed her gaze and replied confidently, "Yeah? Well they all suck. My team can't be beat!"

Kuvai's reply was a non-committal "hmm" and he crossed his arms. "If you say so."

There was something of a tense silence before Yasille reentered the now empty lobby (Illauna's stares at everyone made them retreat to other places) with an armful of towels. When she reached Shayla, she dumped them onto my trainer's lap.

Yasille wiped the back of her hand on her forehead. "Whew! All right, I think that should be enough to get your shirt dry -I'm sorry that I couldn't bring more."

Shayla stared at the mountain of paper towels that could have very well been the population of a forest. "Um… no, this is enough… Thank you…"

Yasille sat down on the wooden bench beside Illauna, a dumb but happy expression on her face. Illauna didn't pay too much heed as Yasille tried to dry her hair out on the tile floor, and then got up.

"The Hoenn League isn't as hard as Kanto…" she began as if teaching, "…but it's not as wimpy as Johto. It's a nice happy medium." She turned to Shayla and asked, "You've been to them, right? What were your rankings?"

Shayla's confident smirk didn't waver. "In Kanto, I placed third. I won the Johto League. I think I'll be able to handle Hoenn just fine."

As Illauna was about to reply, Kaiyou burst through the door and quickly shut it, panting hard. We looked at him for a time, and then Kuvai finally broke the silence.

"…Do we want to know?" he asked, and Kaiyou merely smiled mysteriously back at him.

"Turn on the TV and you'll find out soon enough."

Kuvai frowned. "You didn't harass the news helicopter again, did you?"

Kaiyou looked up at the ceiling innocently. "No… Nothing like that." He then reached over to the small television Nurse Joy had on her counter and said, "Besides, that helicopter should have known not to mess with a guy and a remote airplane." As I pondered on all of the things he could have possibly done given the circumstances, he shouted triumphantly, "Yes! I found it! Listen, listen!"

We all turned to the TV and listened intently to what the blonde reporter woman had to say.

__

"This is Miya Sheen for channel 9 news. We have just received a tip on long-time pokemon thieves known by the alias 'Team Carnage'. We went in with the police, but what they found in the tunnels of Victory Road -in which I am in right now- was completely different than what they expected."

The camera turned to show the three goons I had seen hanging upside down by their feet, with random articles of clothing missing. One was missing his shirt (on his bare, blubbery pale chest was a large smiley face -the nipples were the eyes and a large, crooked, drawn smile was the mouth) and another was missing his pants, revealing white legs and… I couldn't believe it. A pink thong. The other was missing his shoes and his socks were now sock puppets, complete with fuzzy pink troll hair, dotted eyes and happy (yet creepy) smiles.

I turned to the now sopping wet Kaiyou and said, "So that's what you meant."

Kaiyou merely put his finger to his smiling lips and looked back at the TV. The woman was talking again.

__

"These crooks had taken a trainer's pokemon and the trainer herself when some unknown good passerby noticed and bailed the captives. And, heroically, the passerby took on all three goons by his or herself. And, of course, after winning the struggle, completely humiliated the goons. Oh, oh this is great." She turned back to the goons where the one with sock puppets for socks was trying to get out, consequently moving his feet. It looked like the puppets were talking. She laughed and began to say something more, but Kuvai turned the TV of and looked at Kaiyou.

"One would think I'd be surprised… but now…"

Kaiyou merely gave a smile back at the undead humanoid. "Oh, pish posh. You should have known that I wouldn't let them get away unscathed. Besides, they deserved it -and what's else, they made me look like a hero." He stood even taller, hands on hips, chin up -a very hero-like position. Then, in a low, bellowing voice, he commanded, "Evil beware, lest you be humiliated beyond your capacity to think!"

Kuvai merely shook his head and sat where Illauna had been -beside Yasille. He ran his pale hand through his wet hair and crossed his legs. "Kaiyou, you never cease to amaze."

Kaiyou, not owning a single ounce of humility at that moment, let his vanity take hold. "I know," he replied as he took a seat on the other side of the room. Then, I heard some intelligible murmurs from Kuvai and Yasille (to each other, mind you) and then, they left the room and went outside. I cocked my head and looked to my Lord, who had a strange expression.

"Where are they going?" I asked, and Kaiyou looked back to me, and the strange, unidentifiable expression formed a small smile.

"Out," he replied simply. Of course, that didn't satisfy my curiosity at all, so I made a move to follow them. That was when my Lord threw a magazine at my head.

"Don't follow them," he chided lightly. "That's rude."

I made a small frown as I shook the magazine from its status of being stuck on my head. "Then tell me where they're going."

Kaiyou rolled his eyes. From exasperation or merely putting on a show, I didn't know. "They're going to have some alone time. Let them have some peace."

I narrowed my gaze. "You make it sound like they're an item."

He shrugged. "They are."

For a moment, I was struck dumb. An undead… thing… and a living, breathing pokemon? It wasn't right. I was about to say something about it, but Kaiyou cut me off.

"I know what you're going to say," he began in an almost irritated voice. "I know. I know very well. Even I have something of a problem with it…" A shadow entered his gold eyes. "But they're both happy. That's all that matters. Besides…" He repositioned himself so he could cross his legs. "…Yasille and I still see him as he once was -Buganti. Not what you saw before you. He knows he has my blessing. So leave them alone -they haven't had a chance of peace since we left Sootopolis."

I frowned a bit. If Kaiyou was all right with it, then I should be as well. I knew I didn't know Kuvai as well as my Lord and his sister did, so I was in no position to make any kind of opinion or judgment. Before I could think any further on the matter, I felt Kaiyou's cold, wet hand on my fur.

"You must be tired," he said softly. "The rest have gone to bed -we should too." I looked around the now empty lobby and saw that they had already gone to bed. I wondered when, when Kaiyou made his way to a room and I followed. The room was empty. He removed his shirt and covered himself with a blanket and lay down on an empty bed. I went beside him and looked at his face, where a slightly troubled expression brewed.

"These little rooms are too small to accommodate my true form," he sighed reluctantly. "I guess I'll have to sleep like this. Are you going to stay in here, girl?"

I looked at him and shrugged. "I had might as well."

He frowned slightly. "You seem so enthusiastic."

I merely smiled in response and jumped up on the bed with him. He let me get under the covers, and I snuggled up next to him as the warm, soothing feeling washed over me again. I sighed in content. He wrapped his arm around my middle and scratched the place behind my scythe as he murmured a sleepy goodnight to me. However, I wanted to ask him something that I had been wondering about.

"Kaiyou," I began softly, "would it be okay… if… I came with you? You know, with you and Yasille and-"

"No," was his muffled reply.

My mouth agape, I turned and shifted in order to look at him. His face was stern. "Why not?" I asked incredulously.

"You're not supposed to," he replied simply again. I was suddenly irritated by his bluntness. The tranquillity that had inhabited my soul was now gone.

"What do you mean, 'I'm not supposed to'?" I asked again, this time sarcastically. His face began to become irritated as well. He sat up and I had to back away a little from him. His wet hair began to drip on me.

"Exactly what I said. You're not supposed to. The Pattern says you're not supposed to."

My jaw dropped. This stupid Pattern thing again! "Screw the Pattern!" I almost shouted. "I want to come with you!"

He sighed and then lay back down on his white pillow. "Go to sleep. If you can't even interpret the Pattern on your own, then there's no way you would survive a training session with me." As my anger broiled, he shifted and closed his eyes. "And keep your voice down. People are trying to sleep."

I got up on all fours. "Tell me what this stupid Pattern thing says -tell me why I can't go with you!"

He didn't even open an eye. "I already told you."

"That's not the Pattern's reason, that's yours!"

"Then that should be enough of a reason for you."

I snarled. "Why should I settle for a shitty reason like that!"

This time, his eye did open and he glared. "Because I am your Lord and you do what I say. Or have you forgotten this?"

Again, I was struck dumb. In all his casualness, I forgot my respect. He sat up and ran a hand through his matted, damp ebony hair. "Look," he started wearily, "I'm tired. I really am. And I don't want to wake anyone up. We can continue this in the morning, if you really wish. And no, I'm not going to tell you what the Pattern says. You can't know. Besides, someone has already told you what the Pattern has in store for you. One of our own, to be precise."

I blinked. "Eclipse?" I asked and he shrugged.

"It doesn't matter who did it, just that you know. And it'll happen soon. Very soon. In a matter of weeks or even days soon." My heart sank. But… Saji… Did that mean that another one of my teammates was going to die…? Then, a pang in my chest.

__

Wait… what if it's Kaiyou Eclipse was talking about? I asked myself. The thought of Kaiyou dead, butchered… I was scared. I then felt his cool hand on my head and he smiled.

"It's not me, girl," he murmured softly. "Know this. I'll be all right… but I don't know about your other teammates. Don't ask me which one. I can't tell you, even if I wanted to." He leaned back onto his pillow and pulled me with him. "Now shut up and go to sleep. I'm tired, and you're the only thing standing in the way of me catching pneumonia."

I complied and lay down as I welcomed the tranquillity again. Maybe it was Kaiyou's tiredness or my own, or both, sleepiness hit me like a hammer and I found myself drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

………………..

The next morning, everyone was refreshed and somewhat happy. I say that because I can never tell when Illauna and Kuvai are happy. Kaiyou didn't seem to be as radiantly happy that morning as he usually was. It unnerved me a little, but then Tai's obsession with pancakes distracted me.

The morning went on into day and we, being Kaiyou's group, Shayla and the rest of the team, went out into the city to scrounge about. Shayla was very excited since the Hoenn League, much to our disbelief, started the next day. We were in the registration office (which was right next to the pokemon center) as we waited for the chance to register.

Tai moaned as he rolled on the cold tile floor. "I'm so bored…" He placed a yellow paw on my elbow and groaned, "Ayako, you have to help me get free of this boredom!"

I, who was simply sitting on my haunches on the floor, shrugged his desperate paw off of me. "Tai, why don't you count the number of times that you have annoyed me over the time we've known each other? Of course, you'd have to count this time too."

For a moment, he stared at me and then he started whining again. I rolled my eyes and then, a golduck, who was standing in front of us, turned back.

"Could you get him to shut up?" he asked, perturbed. Tai didn't seem to notice, but I had to answer anyway. Besides, the fact that he asked so tactlessly annoyed me a little.

"Sorry, but I don't own a remote to him," I answered in the same tone as the golduck did.

The golduck snarled a little and said, "Hey, you had better show some respect. I am one of the pokemon that one the Johto championship two years ago.

Shoko, who was behind me, growled. "Well, that's quite an accomplishment since we're the Johto champions from last year, and I specifically remember kicking your sorry ass."

The golduck looked up and his eyes widened. "You…! The charizard!"

Shoko's battle smirk grew. "That's right. Now you had better leave my friends alone or else we'll make a repeat of that battle."

The golduck then lunged at Shoko, claws out, eyes glowing. Shoko was caught by surprise, but that didn't do much help for the golduck. Shoko caught the golduck, and using the water duck's momentum, slammed him into the wall behind us. The busy room came to a complete halt, and I saw Shayla smack her hand over her eyes in exasperation.

"Shoko!" she reprimanded. The charizard looked back at her and then pointed at the golduck with his claws.

"He started it!"

Shayla went to the trainer (who was trying to pry the golduck out of the wall) and apologized, but the other trainer would have none of it. Kaiyou, who had been standing beside me, sighed.

"Can't take you guys anywhere, can we?"

I shrugged and replied, "That jerk had it coming to him."

Kaiyou looked down at me with a bemused and slightly disappointed stare, but I didn't pay too much heed to it. I knew he thought it was funny. The golduck's trainer began to speak forcefully to Shayla, and her apologetic attitude switched to defensive.

Amburna sighed. "I suppose that makes another enemy."

Shayla's argument broke through our own conversations. "My charizard is NOT under-trained! Your golduck ran at him first! He was acting on instinct and reaction! It's your golduck that needs more training!"

The nurse Joy and the main register person came up to the two quarreling trainers. "What's all this?" the register person said.

The other trainer spoke first. "Her charizard flung my golduck into the wall!"

Before the two authorities had any time to comment, Shayla retorted angrily, "Yeah, because your golduck attacked my charizard!"

The nurse got in between them. "Stop this!" When the two trainers merely glared at the other, the nurse continued. "Now, I am not going to press charges, and you may still register, but I will not allow this kind of behavior. The pokemon involved -the golduck and charizard in question- may not be used. Am I understood?"

A look of shock came onto the trainers' faces, but then they settled into resolve. "Yes ma'am," they muttered together.

The nurse nodded her head tersely and then Shoko seemed to deflate. "Man…" he said to himself. "This sucks. I wanted to be in the League."

Shayla patted his shoulder. "It's okay. I'll enter you into a bunch of other things, okay? We'll train in between the matches." This seemed to cheer the charizard up a bit, but I began to get worried. Shayla was now out two pokemon. Then, I saw movement to my side and I looked to my left and saw Kaiyou taking Shayla aside for a moment. He began to whisper a little and then she seemed a little shocked, but then, her face lit up. Kaiyou shrugged as she asked him something and then she nearly skipped back to the counter to register.

Kaiyou came back to my side with an air of content. "What did you just do?" I asked cautiously.

The knowing smile made its presence known and he replied enigmatically, "Just giving her a little push in the right direction." At my slightly distrustful face, he replied, "Oh, it's not anything bad. Don't worry."

Another hour went by and we were all registered. I saw the registration form, and it looked very professional.

Trainer's name: _Shayla Kyerson_

Have you participated in the Hoenn League before?_ No._

Have you participated in a Pokemon League before?_ Yes._

If so, will your official League badge and picture work again?_ Yes._

Pokemon entered:_ Jolteon (Tai), Absol (Demi), Dragonair (Amburna), Espeon (Kazu), Aggron (Kiya), Kaiyou_

I stared at the last name and then looked up to my Lord in astonishment. "You're participating!"

He smirked. "I haven't battled a trainer in years. I would love to crush some weaklings while I'm here. Besides, I want to see how Illauna's training has helped me." Still completely shocked by his news, I merely followed the now very excited Shayla out of the registration office and back to our room.

………………

That night came and went in the blink of an eye. Shayla and even Illauna were getting us ready for the next day with some last-minute training and boosters. We were walking around the plaza before our first match, meandering aimlessly. We had many, many hours to kill before our first match, and Shayla decided to get away from battling for a while, to which we all agreed.

Our new team member was Kiya, an aggron a little below our own levels, but she would catch up quickly. To my surprise, she was very shy and gentle, and when she battled, became a juggernaut. She was a very adept fighter, and her marvelous fighting skills made up for her somewhat low level.

We were all walking out in the open, like usual, when a familiar scent greeted me. I turned to my left and saw a very familiar umbreon sitting near an evolution stone booth beside a boy in his late teens. I trotted up to the umbreon, and, sure enough, it was Eclipse. I was about to say hello when he spoke.

"I wondered how long it would take you to notice me," he said airily. He turned and looked at me amiably, and then bowed. "Hello again, Miss Ayako. It's been sometime, hasn't it?"

I nodded. "About your premonition… It was right…" I said uncertainly. Many of my team members still hadn't gotten over Saji's death, and I didn't want to say it too loud, lest they hear me. Eclipse looked at me, and then cocked his head.

"Oh yes, I remember now," he said nostalgically. "When Kaiyou was about to awaken. But, I'm afraid to say… the prophecy hasn't been fulfilled yet, Ayako."

I blinked. But… Saji… and Tai… "What… What do you mean? Tai's and Saji's lives were in danger, and-"

"I know of what you speak," he said softly, "but that's not to what I was earlier referring to. You see, the lines that were in question still exist. I'm afraid to say that another will die, very soon, it seems. In fact, if you follow your nose, you're going to run into the other line. You mentioned the other line before."

…WHAT?

"Hey, Eclipse," the trainer said smoothly. "Come on, boy, we need to go." Eclipse looked up to his trainer, and then back to me. He bowed and then said, "See you, Miss Ayako." And with that, he left.

I stood there, stunned and appalled. So another of my teammates was going to die? Another! _Ugh…_ I let my hindquarters buckle and I plopped onto the concrete. My nerves couldn't take much more of this…

I felt a poke in my back and I turned to see Shoko standing over me. "Hey, come on girl, we're going to another part of town. If you sit there in a daze, you'll get left behind." I nodded and followed him back to the main group. Tai had something in his mouth that smelled distinctly like meat, and Amburna was wearing a beautiful blue pendant around her neck. It suited her wonderfully.

I sighed and walked alongside Kiya for a while. She was glancing around the plaza excitedly, as if she had never been to a pokemon battling competition before. I hadn't either, but I guess she loved the excitement of battle more than I did.

"Oh, I love this!" she cried happily. "I can't wait until our match starts- I hope I go against a fire type so I can mop the floor with his ass! No fire type can withstand my earthquake."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Unless it's a flying type, right?" She thought about that for a bit, and then nodded meekly.

"I suppose so…" She turned to me, smiling. "Have you ever been to a League before?"

When I shook my head, her jaw dropped. "Really?" she asked. "I've been to the Johto one -it was really easy. Tai kept on telling me Indigo Plateau was so much harder than the Johto League, it wasn't even funny."

I wasn't surprised by that. Johto was more… beginner friendly than Hoenn and Kanto. Kanto especially, since for the first gym, a trainer's pokemon had to be at least at level 10 and the gym was rock type. I looked back over to the aggron to see that she was still rambling on how great it was to battle in a League.

I didn't really pay attention to her because I wasn't in the mood to listen to a battling fool. I was going to save myself for the League -I had a feeling I would be used a lot.

I kept on walking until I ran into Shayla's leg. After I shook my head, I looked up at her to find out what the matter was. She looked distressed.

"Shoko, fly up and see if you can find him. The rest of you -split up and search the plaza. We'll meet back here in an hour." She looked around the plaza again and then muttered angrily to herself, "Dammit, Kaiyou's run off again too! Where is he when I need him!" And with that, she ran off to my right.

Before he ran off, I stopped Kazu. "What's going on? Who's missing?"

Kazu looked at me, his face pale. "Tai. He's missing! We were just walking along, and then he disappeared without telling anyone where he went!" He then ran off to my left, and I stood there, not really knowing what to do.

Then, Eclipse's words rang in my head. _If you follow your nose, you'll find the other line._ I decided to just search for Tai's scent and find him that way. I retraced my steps and then found his scent, and then followed it for what seemed like a mile. When I looked up, I found myself in a dark alleyway, where I found nothing but trash cans and dumpsters. I looked around confused, but then I heard Tai's voice scream in pain. I immediately smelled his blood, and then followed that.

I jumped over the fence and went around a corner, and then saw Tai's back, and a figure in the dark, attacking him. I ran forward, and saw that the flesh on the jolteon's brow had been cut, making blood flow into his eyes. He couldn't see.

I saw the figure about to attack him again, and I lunged forward and bit into that flesh, but then my senses went haywire. I knew this person…

Hicha yelped in surprise and pain and then grabbed the scruff of my neck and threw me off. I landed on my feet -his bite didn't hurt that much- and then cried, "The hell do you think you're doing, Hicha!"

The mightyena took a step back from Tai and me, and then said, "Ayako! Thank goodness! You're all right!"

My jaw dropped. First, he was my best friend. Then he was under the delusion that it had been my fault for him getting captured, so he hated me, and now he was happy to see me? I was confused…

Tai was too, apparently. "What? Hicha? That retarded mightyena that blamed you for getting him captured?"

"Yeah. That's him." I scooted back a little in order to come in contact with the jolteon, then I gave him a little thunderbolt. Since his ability was "volt absorb" he transferred my energy into his own power source. He sighed in relief behind me. In front of me, Hicha growled.

"Ayako, why are you still hanging around that damn jolteon?" he demanded of me. "You're free now -we can both go back to the forest!"

My eyebrow cocked. "What are you talking about? I'm not free -I'm still owned! And why are you so happy to see me when the last time we met you were so determined to kill me!"

Hicha blinked. "I… Back on the ferry, I was so angry that I had let myself get caught, I guess I blamed it on you. Koka told me that she had talked to you, and what she told me set me straight." He took a pause, and then I mentally thanked the ninetails. He looked back up at me, determination set on his face. "I've… I've run away from my trainer, and I've come looking for you. I figured you'd be with the place with the most powerful pokemon around… so I came here." He took a step forward, and I took a step back. "Ayako, do what I did -leave your team and then come back to the forest! We can go back to the way it was before he and his trainer stepped into our lives."

I blinked and then looked behind me to Tai, who was trying to get up. From what I could tell, the bleeding had stopped and he could now see out of one eye. The other was tightly closed. I remembered Saji's words to me that one day when we were traveling to Fortree- _If you ever have a chance to get out, take it. Breathe the air like you were supposed to- free. Do this and make up for my own cowardice._

Before I could even think about the subject, Tai growled from behind me. "No way, asshole! She's not stupid enough to fall for your crap! You selfish bastard, leave her alone!" He lunged forward, and then they began to fight again. Now that he could somewhat see, Tai was landing more hits than when I first saw the two fighting. My heart clenched. Which one should I help?

Even though Tai could now see, Hicha was doing his best to exploit Tai's huge blind spot on the jolteon's left side. I stood there in a daze and watched as time and time again, Hicha avoided Tai's attacks and struck with his own.

I really didn't know what to do. If I helped one, the other would feel betrayed. What could I do…?

Then, Hicha came up from under Tai and clamped onto the jolteon's neck, closing the windpipe. My eyes widened. He was going to kill Tai! I was frozen to my spot as I watched Tai struggle against the powerful mightyena. The jolteon sent wave after wave of thunders and thunderbolts, but Hicha held on. After a few moments, Tai couldn't make more movement that a twitch here and there. It was then when Hicha began to speak to me through his clamped jaws.

"Ayako," he began, "with this damn jolteon gone, we can be free! Don't you understand? We can roam around the forest again and do what we want! With this jolteon out of the way, everything can go back to the way it was. Don't you want that?"

I half-listened to what he said. After all, I had heard it all before. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Tai as he struggled vainly against Hicha. The jolteon could barely muster enough electricity for a thundershock… I heard his slowing heartbeat and how it was fading fast. My own heart clenched again. I couldn't let him die.

"Let him go!" I shouted at the mightyena. "For God's sake, let him go! He's dying!"

Hicha's eyes narrowed. "I see now. You only want to stay because of this jolteon, huh? Well then, he really does have to go!" I saw his jaws get tighter around Tai's neck, and then little streams of blood began to trickle down the jolteon's yellow fur. Tai winced, and then another trail of bright red blood began to ooze from the side of his mouth.

Something snapped. I found myself running forward, and then I lunged at Hicha, teeth bared, claws out. I bit onto Hicha's head, and clamped down as hard as I could. Out of surprise, Hicha let go of Tai, and the jolteon crumpled limply to the concrete.

I built up a flamethrower in my mouth and then let it out onto the soft black and grey fur of the mightyena in my grasp. He yelped and then ran to the other side of the alleyway, whimpering in pain. He looked up to me -the eye that had been near to my mouth had been melted shut, and the flesh was now burnt and seared. No fur remained at that spot. Hicha growled, and then attacked me.

I was ready. He ran at me, and I pelted him with an ice beam attack, where I had just now burnt him. He crashed into the other side of the alleyway, got up and charged at me again.

I don't know how long we battled. I just know that by the time Hicha collapsed from exhaustion the first time, Shoko and Kazu had found us. I looked over to the three about ten feet away; Tai was unconscious but alive, Kazu was standing over him, looking at me in horror, and Shoko was slightly in front of the two brothers, watching us warily. A sound in front of me diverted my attention to Hicha, who was struggling to get up. I waited for him to stand, and then braced myself for his extreemspeed attack.

It didn't hurt much, and when he was returning to his side of the alley, I followed him and then attacked him with a flamethrower and thunderbolt at the same time. He crashed into the side of the alley again, and collapsed to the ground.

"Give up, Hicha," I said. "You're too badly hurt to keep this up. I want to stay with my team. They're good to me. They're my friends, as much as you are mine. If you keep on trying to attack them or myself, I'll have to keep on battling you." I saw him glare up at me with his good eye. "I don't want to… But if I must, I must." I looked down at him with pity. "I'm sorry Hicha… but I can't return to that forest. I've grown too attached to the pokemon and people around me. Please… just go back on your own."

Hicha's glare didn't wither. "I knew it…" he said in disgust. "You LIKE being a servant -a slave! Well, then I guess I came all this way for nothing -the absol I knew had died long ago! You impostor- YOU'LL DIE!"

He charged at me again, his teeth bared and drool coming out of his mouth. I glared. So he was the life Eclipse told me about.

I rushed forward myself, and tilted my head slightly so that when we collided, Hicha would run into my scythe. We hit, and my scythe slashed through part of the mightyena's neck. We turned back to each other, and I saw the damage I had done. There was a pool of blood around Hicha, and I saw the gash my scythe had made. Still, even with his wounds, he charged at me again, and I did the same.

Again, I don't remember how long we battled. Hicha had eventually hurt my scythe, and I was forced to stop using it because of the pain. He had ripped open a spot in my side, put a gash over one of my eyes, and opened a wound on my left flank. God knows how much damage I put on him. By the time that we were covered in all of our wounds, I had decided to end it. I rushed forward at him while he was trying to recover from a slash attack of mine, and I bit onto his throat like he had done earlier with Tai.

Hicha seemed surprised that I had done it, and then he began to claw at my vulnerable underbelly. It hurt, but I held on. With each new gash he created, my jaws clamped harder and harder. I could feel his frantic pulse begin to wane and his body began to fail as I held onto his neck. For the few minutes it took for Hicha to slowly die, I felt numb. I couldn't feel his attacks anymore, and my mind was completely blank.

Then, I smelled death on his body, and felt no more pulse. I looked down at his face, and his slightly opened eyes were glazed and rolled into the back of his head. I had killed him. I killed him…

In realization of my deed, I let him go and took a step back. I looked at myself and saw my and his blood all over my body, and then, my vision blurred. I don't know why, maybe it was from tears or from lack of blood, but my vision blurred and my body collapsed to the ground. I heard a pitter patter of small paws on concrete to my left and I turned to see a light purple blob -Kazu.

"Demi…" he said in horror. "Demi… What… How… Why…?"

I stared up at him for a while as I tried to adjust my vision. When I gave up on my eyes, I let my head loll to the side and placed it on my bloody forelegs. "He was… killing him… I couldn't…"

I heard heavy footsteps in the same direction where Shoko and Tai were, and I heard Shayla cry, "DEMI!" loudly. I didn't really know why until I looked down and saw all of the blood around me, and not all of it was Hicha's. I felt sleep creep into my system, and I decided then that it was a good time to take a nap.

………………..

Wow… that last part really sucked….OH WELL! HICHA'S DEAD! (I didn't like him all that much.)

Today is me last day of freedom… booo… I want Labor Day weekend to NEVER END!

ja


	24. Recollections

HELLOOOOOOOO! You are looking at one happy authoress -I now am the proud owner of a copy of Pokemon: XD! LUGIA! I FINALLY GET MY LUGIAAAA! shouts and dances in joy October 3rd… October 3rd is the day, my fellow pokemaniacs! BASK IN THE AWESOMENESS OF THE XD!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

…sorry.

ANYway, I think a lot of you will like this chappie. It's short, but it makes up for it in the content. :smiles: Prepare your teeth for hurtage.

**__**

Price For Freedom

Chapter 24

Recollections

I was in the wonderfully shaded, covered trail that was my home. It was a sunny spring day. Masquerain and beautifly fluttered about. I watched in amazement as they flew -how could they fly so effortlessly? I turned to my mother, who was busy gathering berries for the upcoming storm. "Mama," I began in my soft little voice, "how do they fly?"

She looked at me with the wisdom that all parents have and said, "The gods made them that way."

I cocked my head. "But… we don't have any."

She shook her head slightly. "But that doesn't mean that there aren't any in the first place."

For the moment, my childish curiosity was sated. I looked back to the field and then, a marill who was simply passing by, saw me out of the corner of his eye. My face brightened and I stood on my frail, weak legs. "Hello! Are you saving up food for the storm?"

He looked to the sky, which held no clouds, and then snarled at me. "What storm? There's not a cloud in the sky!"

I smiled and said proudly, "Mama says there's going to be one soon. In a few days. She's always right."

The marill snarled and then threw a rock at my head with his tail. It hit, and then I began to whimper as he retorted, "Bastard Darkling! How dare you go and spout out nonsense like that! Godless garbage, stop brewing trouble!" He was about to throw another rock, but Mama got in front of me.

"She meant nothing by it," Mama warned. The marill hesitated, since he was now facing a full-grown absol instead of a pup, and then went on about his business. When he left, Mama turned back to me and began to lick my supple head.

I sniffled at the stinging her tongue made. "Why did he say all those things?" I looked up at Mama. "Why did he hit me?"

She looked at me for a long time, then replied, "He… didn't want to listen to you, baby."

Angered, I demanded, "But why? I was telling the truth!"

Mama purred against my head to calm me down. "I know, baby, but he doesn't. He doesn't trust us. Now come on, we need to get berries…"

I wasn't satisfied by this. "Why won't he trust us? Did we do something wrong?"

She sighed deeply and then began to walk back to her bush. "It's because we don't have a god to pray to. One of our own element. Because of that, other pokemon believe that we are a hated race by the gods."

I looked around for a moment. "Are we?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Then why don't we have a god?" I asked abruptly.

She hesitated, then said, "Because the humans killed him. Now go on and gather berries…"

Shocked and angered, I cried, "Why did they kill him!"

My mother turned back to me, a sad smile on her face. "Because he was a Darkling…"

………………………………

Pain. That's all there was for too long of a time. It was unbearable. What had happened?

Then, flashes of a battle with a mightyena… Hicha… I had killed him… My heart stuttered in realization. How could I do such a thing? How could I have killed the only friend I had in that lonely forest? How…?

My limbs ached and throbbed. My mind scattered from memory to memory and then back to the horrible pain. Hicha was my best friend… my best friend…

His blood made itself known in my mouth. I almost vomited at the taste of the old, bitter, coppery taste of his dead blood in my mouth. I had to get it out. I coughed -the air racked through my tired lungs and body. More pain for me to enjoy.

I wanted to die. I really did. How could I live with myself for killing my best friend -the only friend I had in the forest? How could I stand to bear the weight of his life on my shoulders? I wasn't made for that kind of burden…

Then, a small amount of relief entered my body and soul. I felt something take away the pain -and replace it with peace. Who…?

I opened my eyes to see Kaiyou's worried face and Kuvai, standing on the opposite side of my Lord. The undead being was glowing ever so slightly, and he was chanting something softly. Kaiyou's face relaxed at my open eye.

"Thank goodness you're awake," he said softly. "When I felt all of that pain, I worried it was you. I tried to help, but I couldn't get close. So Kuvai began to heal you -that's what he's doing now. You're healthy enough to the point where I can stand to be around you." Then, he paused. "The mightyena… who was he?"

My mind exploded into pain again. Guilt ripped my heart apart. "I…" I started quietly. For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to identify him. "I…"

A look of calm realization dawned in his golden eyes, and he placed a comforting hand on my fur. "It's okay," he whispered, "you don't have to tell me." Then, he turned to Kuvai. "How is she?"

I saw Kuvai open his eyes slightly. "Pretty banged up. Unfortunately, her body can't withstand my full power, even to heal, so I have to do this slowly. It'll take some time." He closed his eyes again and said, "but nothing to worry about."

Kaiyou sighed and stood up. His hand was still on my fur when he began to leave. "I'm going to check on Tai and Shayla. I'll be back in a moment."

Both my eyes widened. TAI! "Is he okay?" I almost shouted. "Is he alive?"

I suppose Kaiyou was startled by my outburst, but the shock didn't stay for long. "He's fine. He's already been healed -I'm just going to make sure none of them are in shock. I'll be back in a moment." He looked at Kuvai, nodded slightly, then left.

For the moment, I was alone with Kuvai. It was more than a little unsettling, but had I not been in shock myself, I would have probably tried to create conversation. However, he generated it for me.

"That mightyena did a number on you," he said without caution. "Were you holding back as you were fighting him?"

Angered by his bluntness, I retorted, "What do you care? It's my business."

Kuvai opened his eyes -both were deep, crimson red. He smirked. "Really?"

I glared. "Yes, it is."

His eyebrows went up and he closed his eyes again. "Kaiyou's been very worried. Especially since it hurt him too much to come in contact with you. Yasille wanted to help, but her mere aura might have made you die and that made him even more distressed. And when he's distressed, Yasille gets even more worried. And when she's worried, so am I." He paused and opened his eyes again. "So, since you made my friends and I so worried about you, I'd say that it is my business. And the fact that I'm healing you right now."

I grimaced. I didn't want to talk to him all that much. The fact that he kept on cornering me in the conversation was more than a little irritating. "He… I…" I paused, and then said softly, "His name was Hicha. He was… a friend…"

I looked back up to his face, which held no expression, and continued in answering his ever-so-tactful question. "I killed him didn't I? I'd say I didn't go easy on him." For some reason, saying what I did seemed to make it real, make it hurt even worse. Kuvai didn't pay any heed to this.

"Why did you kill him?" he asked, and I glared back up at him.

"Why are you asking these questions?" I almost shouted. "I don't want to talk about it!"

He half-glared. "Why are you trying to avoid the answers? You know them. I know them. Why can't you accept them? Trying to deny the past is going to hinder your growth, and pretty soon, you're old, weak and stupid. Accept your deed and move on. Otherwise, the person you did that for isn't going to be around anymore."

"Can't I have any time to grieve?" I retorted angrily. _That wound is too fresh -I can't move on right now…_ I looked down at the white bed sheets under me and sank into my pillow. "I can't…"

I heard Kuvai sigh heavily. "Just make sure you don't grieve too long…"

For a long time, niether of us said anything, and the next person to break the silence was Kaiyou when he returned. I looked up at my Lord to see Tai at his heel. Tai was limping badly and was bandaged around his eye and throat. The battered jolteon looked up at me and said, "You're worse off than I am, aren't you?"

Kuvai answered. "She's taking me longer to heal than you, if that's what you mean." Tai's face fell, and I felt compelled to lift it back up.

I scoffed and said, "I'm fine, Tai," I said cockily. "I'll be back on my feet in no time." I looked back at the jolteon for a moment, to see his reaction, and was a little surprised. He wore only a small smile, but in his eyes were sorrow and pity. Were those for me?

Kaiyou looked at Kuvai and said, "Hey, Yasille's calling you." Kuvai looked up at him, curious, and cocked his head. At this, my Lord continued. Kaiyou stretched out his arms and said, "Yeah, you might want to get to her. She says that she wants to find out what happens when she pushes the big button on the blender." My Lord looked at Kuvai again and said, "She says she has her hand inside."

Kuvai's eyes widened to ludicrous proportions, and he ran out of the room, screaming, "Yasille! Don't push the button!" Kaiyou chuckled as he watched his friend dash out, and then turned to Tai and myself. He winked, then left the room, leaving us alone.

Tai struggled to get onto my bed with me, but he made it eventually. I took a better look at him -he was utterly exhausted. The sparkle in his chocolate brown eyes was gone. He sat there in front of me for a long time, as if trying to find something to say. Since he was having trouble, I started the conversation.

"Um…" I began softly, "…You were hurt pretty badly. Are you… okay?"

He looked at me and smiled -genuinely- and replied as soft as I, "Yeah. My leg hurts…" I winced at the hoarseness of his voice, "and my throat… but I'm okay." He watched me carefully as he added, "But I'm really concerned about…" he had trouble saying this, "about you…"

I cocked my head and he shuffled his front paws. His ears drooped a little and suddenly, he found his paws fascinating. "I mean," he added quickly, "I… well, I mean, you were hurt pretty… pretty badly… and… well…"

A small smile came to my own face. When he wasn't being a jackass, he could be really cute… A little red flag spurred in my mind and I shook the thought out. Not the time to think like that… I took a deep breath and interrupted Tai from making his incoherent explanation.

"I know what you're trying to say, Tai," I began, "but really, you don't have to worry." I mustered up all my courage and smiled. "I'm fine."

He glared and looked at me in suspicion. "…No, you're not."

Shocked by his accusation, I looked back at him in surprise. "What are you talking about? I'm… I'm fine."

For a moment, he looked hurt. "Why are you lying to me? I can see and smell that you're not okay. Why can't you admit it?"

As I searched for another answer to that question, I stumbled over sentences and felt the inside of my snout grow pressured and hot. "Because… you don't…" I mumbled softly. And even as I searched and searched for another answer than the truth, that truth kept on growing and growing inside of my mind. Before I knew it, my vision was blurry and hot tears dropped onto my paws.

I cried like a small child would. I just sat there, in front of Tai, bawling. He didn't make a move to stop me, or poke fun at me -he just sat there and watched. My head was down for the whole time, but after a while, I felt his cheek up against mine and he whispered, "It's going to be okay. You'll see."

Despite his kind words, I continued to cry and cry. Somehow, I felt that I was letting out more than my grief, but some kind of burden I had been keeping. I don't know what that burden was, whether it be Hicha's death, the fact that I got captured, guilt for Saji's death, or anything else, but I felt it lift as I cried. And the fact that Tai was there with me made the feeling that much greater.

Tai scooted to my side and began to gently nuzzle my cheek again. He placed his paw on mine and whispered, "It 's okay, Ayako. I'll take care of you."

……………………….

Wow… that was so full of corn… CORN! Munch on the sugary corn!

Anywho, I hope I sated some of your hunger for fluff. I don't pride myself with corn-writing abilities… I think that I suck… but that should be good enough. And Steph, there's more Kuvai for you. Now shut up.

Just kidding.

ja


	25. Opening Ceremony

Lugia… I have a Lugia… his name is Sin. :is happy: Actually, I have two. I'm keeping one Shadowfied for the moment because it looks uber spiffy.

Well, I was planning not to go to Region Competition, but, my band directors forced me. Booo…

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 25**_

_**Opening Ceremony**_

After my little… moment… with Tai, we slowly made our way to the lobby, where Kaiyou, Illauna, and Shayla were sitting on various furniture. My Lord was simply eating cereal (Captain Crunch if I wasn't mistaken) and watching TV impassively, Illauna was reading a crusty book on Rayquaza, and Shayla was bouncing her leg up and down nervously. She kept making jerky glances to her watch and some sheet of paper in her hand. She saw us and then rushed to her feet.

"Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed happily. "I was hoping you two would be okay. The Grand Opening Festival is in an hour!"

The fact that we were at the Hoenn League dawned in my head. In the midst of Hicha's death and… Tai… I had forgotten about the competition completely. The jolteon to my left bounced up and down.

Shayla smiled softly at his enthusiasm, leaned down and said, "Sorry, boy. I'm happy you're excited, but I don't want you battling this one. Kazu, Amburna and Kaiyou can handle this match." Tai stopped bouncing and began to whimper pitifully. I rolled my eyes and made my way to my Lord, who was sitting on the couch. When I sat down near his leg, he scratched the place under my scythe.

Shayla stood up and said firmly, "You're not battling! You took a hard beating yesterday -I'm not going to let you push yourself!"

Tai groaned. "But these guys are pushovers! Shmucks! I can take them with one leg!" To prove his point, he began shaking a hind leg, but then fell over from bad balance.

Shayla shook her head again and Tai sulked to the corner where Illauna was. Apparently, he didn't notice whom he was sitting by and then looked up, saw the mighty trainer staring at him from behind her opaque sunglasses, then shrank off. If he had had a long enough tail, it would have been between his legs.

I shook my head and leaned happily against Kaiyou's legs. It was good to have Tai normal again. I opened my eyes at the memory of the moment with Tai that had just happened. Did he really mean what he said? I looked to the jolteon, who was now grooming his front left leg, and let my eyes scrutinize the yellow dog. He seemed honest enough. But did I want to take the offer?

I sighed and then let my head plop back to my Lord's leg. His hand came down and began to scratch my neck absently.

"Something wrong?" he asked softly; I could barely hear him. I looked up at him and saw him reading a book titled Candide, (he finished his cereal) then lowered my gaze again.

"…No…" I replied simply. I heard a soft chuckle, then a turn of a paper page.

"Your face says otherwise," he said knowingly. I looked back up to him, a coy smile on his pale face. A chuckle went through his chest again and he looked up at the beginning of a new page. His eyes went down to mine, and he patted my white head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I jerked my head out of his hand. For some reason, his content attitude irritated me. "There's nothing to talk about," I muttered. He was a little surprised by my answer, but the smile returned to his face soon enough.

"All right," he said as his golden gaze returned to the page. "If that suits you."

I got to my sore feet and walked out of the pokemon center to see a fading dusk. The stadium in which the competition was being held was illuminated by brilliant lights, bathing the structure in a pure, white light. I looked to my left and saw Kuvai and Yasille sitting quietly -but comfortably- beside each other. Yasille's happy gaze was straight in front of her, but Kuvai seemed to realize that I was there, and looked at me quizzically. I flinched and then took my eyes to my paws.

I heard a ruffle of shoes on concrete, then Kuvai's void of scent come closer. _Oh, crap…_I realized, _He's coming to me!_ Before I could find a way to escape the encounter, he sat beside me and said, "How are you?"

I gulped and turned to him slowly. I did NOT want to have this conversation. "Fine…" I replied shakily. His dark eyebrow inclined, and he "hmmed". He stared at me for a minute, which seemed hours, and then leaned back on his hands.

"You don't need to be so scared of me; I don't bite," he stated. I knew that he meant me well, but the fact that he was undead made me nervous, and no amount of reassurance could convince me otherwise. I gave a little nervous laugh at his comment, and tried to shuffle further away from him on my butt.

He sighed, and then said, "Are you at least feeling better? I know that you won't be battling in the first match, but you aren't sore?" I shook my head and tried to further scoot away from him when suddenly, Yasille sat down on the other side of me. She smiled amiably and said, "So, it doesn't hurt when I'm around you?"

Dismayed that my escape route was now blocked, I shook my head. I did feel a little tingling, but it tickled more than hurt. She bounced in her seat and exclaimed something happily in the Light language, and I saw Kuvai's arm reach over my head to Yasille's shoulder to calm her down. She pouted a little at the fact that she couldn't celebrate properly, but then a small squirrel caught her attention and she followed it with her eyes happily. She really was an absent-minded person…

Kuvai nudged me in the side and said, "Pay no mind to her. She does that -zones off. You get used to it eventually…" I looked back to the Light wolf and saw her sway from side to side, humming a foreign lullaby to herself. When she noticed that all other eyes were on her, she smiled again and patted me on the head, then went back to her daydreaming. Kuvai sighed and then stood up, about to leave.

"I hope…" he began uncertainly, "…that you do well in your competition." He nodded to Yasille, who stood up as well and patted me on the head again. They went around the corner of the pokemon center together, and I couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. Being around the ghost was too much for my nerves.

……………….

The stadium -which was actually a dome- was full of people, (Kuvai, Yasille and Illauna included) as we waited in the air lock with the other trainers. There were about 500, of which I saw ages range from eleven to fifty. The trainers were allowed two pokemon on either side of them to march out with them in the opening ceremonies, and Shayla had chosen Tai and me.

The jolteon was more than excited. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that he could have catapulted himself into space from all of the energy he had. Shayla did nothing to try and calm him down, as most of the younger, newer trainers were attempting to do. She merely looked down at him with some annoyance, but then shook it off as the jolteon pulled off a back flip.

Since I was on the other side of the overexcited electric dog, I had to lean in order to see his face. I did so, and then said in a hushed, annoyed tone, "Will you stop that? Try and preserve SOME dignity."

He stopped just long enough to ask me, "Don't tell me you're lacking so much emotion that you don't feel excited. I know you want to try it. Act crazy for once!" He then began to run around, chasing his tail. I simply growled my annoyance; if he didn't stop when the ceremony started, he would become roadkill on the highway. I was about to ask Shayla to calm him down, but she had left to talk to a trainer a ways away. I pouted; it seemed I would have to handle Tai on my own.

"I see someone's excited," a smooth, masculine voice said from behind. I turned to see an absol, my age, eyeing Tai and me. He nodded towards the jolteon, who had stopped dead in his tracks, and said, "This your first time?"

The jolteon suddenly took a practiced, regal stance -which made him look much older- and said defensively, "No, my third. And you?"

I was a little startled by his sudden change in demeanor and wished that the other absol was around all of the time to keep the yellow dog in line. The male absol simply shrugged off the jolteon's answer and then turned back to me. "You are a lovely lady…" He stepped towards me and began sniffing. "With an equally lovely scent to match." He looked up at me to see my reaction, which was a flattered laugh.

Although I liked this absol -since he had such a wonderful head on his shoulders- Tai did not approve. I could hear growling coming from him, and when I looked at him, he looked as if he was about to launch a pin missile attack at the absol. The other absol simply smirked, then turned back to me, completely ignoring the jolteon.

"What is your name?" he asked smoothly, cocking his head as he did so. Before answering, I debated on which name -my real name or my nickname? I decided and replied with a pleasant smile, "Ayako. My name is Ayako." A louder growl came from Tai's direction, but I paid no heed to it.

He leaned back, pleased. "Beautiful. I should have expected as much. My name is Arden, but my trainer calls me Phantom." He studied me again and said, "You look as if this is one of many competitions you've been to. Are you a veteran?"

I smiled and shook my head. _This absol, Arden, is amazing!_ I thought excitedly. _Smart, strong and so… darn… good-looking… woo! _I shrugged my shoulders playfully and said, "No… actually, this is my first time…"

He seemed genuinely shocked at my answer. "I would never have guessed," he said with a twinge of awe. "You hold yourself with utmost respect and strength, something that comes from years of training. I would not want to be your opponent on the battlefield."

My smile grew wider. "Nor I you." His own smile -a charismatic, witty grin- grew and was about to reply, but then a myriad of brass instruments sounded from inside the dome, and his expression sobered a bit. He looked back to me and said, "It seems our time has been cut short. I hope to see you again, Miss Ayako." He nodded, which I returned happily, and he walked away to his trainer, who happened to be the person Shayla was talking to.

I sighed happily and situated myself on the concrete, reflecting on Arden, when a hard object ran into my side. It turned out to be a sour Tai, who was glaring at the direction that Arden went. I cocked an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

He turned back to me, his chocolate eyes hiding fits of emotions. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he sighed, looked at his paws, then replied softly, "Nothing." He turned and went back to his spot for the ceremony. I was now quite worried; what had gotten his panties in a twist? Then, recent events with Arden and how the jolteon had kept growling came to my mind and my worry disappeared. He was just jealous.

_How could he be jealous?_ I raged in my mind, _Arden is one of my own kind; it's nice to be able to do talk to one once in a while. If he had met a female jolteon, I'm sure he would all over her… And why do I care? I can do what I want. Why should I worry if Tai approves or disapproves?_ I snorted my temporary malcontent for the jolteon and stared fiercely ahead at the airlock doors, wishing for something to tear my teeth into. Shayla returned to her post, and then, the airlock doors began to open.

The first thing that greeted me was a wall of rushing air, then the overwhelming sound of cheers from thousands of people. The brass began to play again and we started forward towards the center of the empty concrete field. We were near the front of the procession, so I could see a trio of men ahead of us, already shaking the first of the trainers' hands. _I wonder who they are?_

When they came to Shayla, one of the men, a young, brunette man, shook her hand very enthusiastically. "I hope you do really well, Miss Kyerson. Represent the Kanto region and win the contest!" She thanked him happily, then moved onto the other two men, who merely nodded their heads amiably to her. We then walked to the other side of the field and stood, waiting for something to happen. I looked down the field to see the rest of the procession: a gargantuan line of trainers with their various pokemon, some rare, some strong, some both. I looked to the crowds to see if I could find our little troupe, but among the plethora of bodies, faces were indistinguishable.

After all the trainers had shaken hands with the three men, an announcer's voice boomed, **"There you are, folks, your Hoenn League's 45th Annual Competition's contestants!" **The roar grew to an almost ear-deafening volume. **"Let's begin the festivities!" **Another roar from the crowd, and then the three men formed a small arc in front of the line of trainers, each with a microphone in their hands.

The one that had cheered Shayla on spoke first. "I am the president of the Kanto Pokemon League, and I wish to thank Mr. Karron for such a wonderful stage for this competition, not only for those trainers from my home region, but for all trainers. I wish all trainers and their hard-working pokemon the best of luck!" The crowd cheered, and suddenly his personal encouragement made sense. _What would that say about Kanto -or Hoenn for that matter- if a Kanto trainer won the Hoenn League?_ I looked at the man, a coy smile playing my face. Didn't it always come down to politics?

The second man, the Johto head, said his own thanks and hopes, (which sounded much like the Kanto head) and then the Hoenn head spoke. He was an older, bald-headed man. He had a good build for a human, and a worn, weary look in his blue eyes. He raised his free hand and said, "Thank you all for coming here! Without you fans, we wouldn't have such a phenomenal battlefield for this wonderful competition." Another roar. "Let us now show our support for these fine trainers who have battled their way through eight, vigorous badges, fought through stormy winds, blazing hot suns, cold, dark nights, and days without the comforts of home all to reach this field!" A louder clamor sounded and the crowd stood, creating a strange wave of human bodies.

"Now, before we begin the competition," he said to calm the crowd down, "let us remember that the trainers who do not win are not losers. The people out on this field have been through trails that make them all winners in life." The throng of people cheered again, and my sarcastic self almost had me laughing. I had to bite my tongue to keep it in. Could you get any cornier? I looked to Shayla, who was doing the same thing.

We were then dismissed, and we filtered out of the four exits of the dome into separate lobbies. There, Nurse Joy's were stationed with the sorting machines and the results of the drawings were shown. We looked for Shayla's picture, which was paired with a middle-aged man, around the middle. We were the 75th battlers. Ugh.

Tai groaned. "We have to wait THAT LONG to kick this guy's butt? The battle'll be tomorrow!" I looked to Shayla for her reaction, which was a simple shrug and sigh.

"Then we'll have to wait. At least we're not last. Or first." Nonetheless, the jolteon was quite put out. We then left the dome for a large, purple-roofed building. The letters "H-M" were on the side, and beside it, I saw a simple white sign, "Trainer Housing". Confused, I looked up to Shayla, who had the look that this was merely routine. We weren't going to stay in the pokemon center? I relayed my question to Tai, who hesitated in answering.

"Yeah, trainers for large competitions like these get to stay in prepared apartments that the League provides. The Heads like to have all of the trainers in one place, and it's a sign of gratitude; the Heads wouldn't be getting all of this money without us, so it's polite to return the favor."

I nodded -it made sense. I looked back to Tai to talk to him about the horribly corny "winners in life" bit, but he had a somber expression on his face; I lost my train of thought upon seeing it. _What's with him?_

We walked into the apartment building to see an already huge gathering of trainers watching a large screen TV, which displayed a pokemon battle underway. Shayla ignored them and went to the elevator, a furnished, maroon pocket of space, and pressed the 14 button. Silently we ascended, and I looked to Shayla to see if she was mad or not. Surely she would want to talk to us. But her face was weary, exhausted. The elevator chimed, and we found our way to our room, room 1492.

The door came open with a little card Shayla held, and we entered. Shayla let everyone out of their balls, and Kaiyou quickly turned to his human form before his colossal form broke something in the small suite. He sat on the sofa, leaned back, and asked, "So I assume we're not battling tonight?" At Shayla's slow shake, he replied softly, "Thank God."

My trainer yawned and said, "I'm getting that bed over there-" she pointed to one bed in a small, separate room, "Kaiyou, you can take the other-" she pointed to another bedroom adjacent to hers, "and the rest can sleep wherever you want. Goodnight, I'm going to bed." She tottered over to her room and shut the door with a soft click. Kaiyou stretched, stood, then scratched the small of his back. He looked to me and asked, "Are you gonna sleep in here or with me?"

I trotted towards his room and he muttered, "With me, then," and followed. I was personally not tired; I was quite excited actually. So when Kaiyou flopped onto the bed face down, I asked, "Why are you tired? You didn't do anything." He shrugged and rolled over.

"I don't know," he replied with a yawn, "I just want some sleep. I guess Illauna's endless training sessions are starting to catch up with me. In any case, I'm tired." I cocked my head and hopped onto the bed with him.

"What do you do in those 'training sessions?'" I asked, "Are they really that hard?"

He laughed and then sat upright, staring at the pale gray wall. "Yeah, they're pretty brutal. And they were separated by too little sleep. But I don't want to go into details right now…" He patted my head absently as he removed his shoes, socks, and shirt. He threw them carelessly to the floor and snuggled under the warm, quilted covers on his bed. "'Night, girl."

"Goodnight," I replied, pawing out a place for me to sleep. I ended up against the lump that was my Lord's middle, and prepared myself for the battle that would occur the next day.

…………………

Woo! I finished!

So how did you all like Arden? Just wondering. And to all of you BOA people out there, "WE'RE ALL WINNERS IN LIFE!"

Woot. Behold the redundant corniness of BOA.

Ja!


	26. The First Match

Hezzo! I'm sorry I took so long on updating the last chapter. I just… didn't seem to want to write it. So, during the break, I made myself do it and eventually got done. At least I updated! I'm now listening to Hypnotize, the newest album from System of a Down. Holy monkey butt, it's fricken' great.

Oh, and to make up for my long, long absence, REVIEW RESPONSES! Woo!

Jenn: Yes, Kaiyou is hot. If only you could see a picture of him (that I drew). And Kuvai became "good" when they defeated Anubo, remember? It was Anubo (the jerk) that was making Kuvai "bad." So, when Kuvai got free of him, he was all spiffy again. I think… it's either in chapter 18 or 19. Can't remember, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Thank you for reviewing!

belitagirl: I'm happy you liked Arden; it took me forever to think up of his name and not sound like any other name I've used. I worked hard on him, and my work paid off! Woo!

Brenoan2k5: Thank you! No one ever said any of my stories were gold mines…. Happy. And yes, it is very, VERY safe to say that Kaiyou is the Dark Legendary. I thought I made that clear… guess not. Next time, I'll try to be more detailed. Thank you for reading!

Fate's Dice Kyre -JMK: Your name is very long; it took up a lot of space on my little sheet of paper I used for these notes. Oh well. Answer to your question: yes I did. And what is a "n00b" fic? I have yet to hear the definition of that word… Yummy French Toast. Gimme.

Okay, fic now.

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 26**_

_**The First Match**_

The dim, muffled morning rays were what awakened me the next morning. I blinked slowly, looking around the room and letting my brain process where we were. I remembered that we were now at the Hoenn League, waiting for our first match. I glanced down at my Lord, who was still sound asleep, and shook my head to clear my hazy thoughts. I looked back to Kaiyou; should I wake him? His soft breathing and peaceful expression made me reconsider the thought; he had said something the night before about Illauna's training sessions. I could only imagine what the Legendary trainer had put him through. So, leaving my Lord asleep on the bed, I made my way to the living room.

I found that I was the first one up. Kiya, Amburna, Tai, and Kazu were curled up one way or another on their respective pieces of furniture or carpet. I began to make my way back to my room when I heard a yawn, then Kazu's telepathic voice saying, _'Hello, Ayako. I didn't think you would be up this early.'_

I turned and smiled. I guessed why he was using telepathy; he didn't want to wake anyone with our conversations. Trying not to embarrass myself in front of the espeon, I tried very hard to control the volume of my own mental voice. _(I wasn't tired last night. I didn't need much sleep.)_

The espeon cocked his head. _'Not even with the wounds you had? I admit, they were minor since Kuvai healed you, but shouldn't you be tired from your excursions?'_

I shrugged and replied, _(Not really. I guess he really did a good job healing me.)_

He nodded and seemed lost for a small moment. I was about to ask what the matter was, but he beat me. _'Ayako, do you mind… if we… talk?'_

Confused, I answered, _(We're talking now.)_

He shifted uncomfortably on his small purple feet. _'I mean, in private.'_

I tried to keep the laugh out of my mental voice. _(Kazu, we ARE talking in private. No one else can hear this.)_

_'You know what I mean,'_ Kazu responded irritably. I nodded and then went into the Void, Kazu on my heels. I quickly led us to the roof of our inn, and then settled myself on the cold shingles.

"So what do you want to talk about so privately?" I asked as he sat down to my left. He stiffened a bit, and then took a deep breath to relax him. It didn't really work, but he asked all the same.

"Ayako," he began softly, "Do you… well… I… uh…" I cocked my head as he stumbled over his words. I didn't try to pry them out of him though; he seemed to have enough trouble on his own. "I heard from Tai that you met another absol last night."

A little startled by the subject, it took me a bit of time to answer. "Yes, I did. His name was Arden. Nice guy."

At my comment, he grimaced a little bit, and then said, "Tai didn't wanting me doing this. He… didn't want me saying anything to you at all, but I think you should know." He looked towards the rising sun, which was ascending in it glorious rainbow of reds, oranges and yellow before us, and sighed deeply. "He… doesn't like Arden."

I burst out laughing. Kazu was startled by my reaction; I suppose he expected me to be angry or something. But I just found it too hilarious to keep in. "Of course Tai doesn't like him!" I said while wiping tears from my eyes via my paw. "Tai doesn't like any Dark! He told me himself! Sure, it was… a long while ago when he said it -it was when Kaiyou first awakened- but I remember it. It was the reason he hated me at first."

Kazu's face fell to uncertainty. "No… he never hated you. Thought you were annoying at first, yes, but never HATED you. Not like Eclipse, but that's different." He looked me straight in the eyes, his lavender orbs piercing mine like knives. "Just… for his sake, stay away from Arden."

Now I was mad. I stood on all fours and towered over the small espeon, exposing my white fangs in a feral snarl. Though the small espeon was surprised, he wasn't scared. "Why should I? Arden's my own race! He's nice! I like him! What if he were to become a good friend of mine, or hell, let's stretch reality for a moment, my mate? Why should I surrender my social life for a gluttonous jolteon who can't seem to be serious for five minutes?"

Kazu sighed and stared at me like I had attacked him. "That's exactly my point…"

My butt fell back to the cold shingles. I was completely stunned. Had he just said what I thought he said? "What… What?"

His shoulders sagged and his expression became pleading. "Oh, Ayako, don't you see? Tai, well, he… he… he's in l-"

_**(GOOD MORNING, GIRL! I see you!)**_

I whirled around at the mental voice, trying to find my Lord. I found him on the ground, in his true form, tail wagging and tongue flapping against his chin as he panted. He looked ludicrous. I searched for any trainer who would want to catch him, but when I saw none, I turned my attention back to my Lord. _(Why are you here?)_

He trotted up to the building more to see us better. He said response as if it were completely obvious. **_(Why, to train.) _**

I looked to Kazu, hoping he would provide some insight, but alas, he merely shrugged his shoulders. I turned back to my Lord, who was saying a telepathic hello to an old couple walking their growlithe. They ran away. **_(How rude,)_** he admonished.

I sighed and asked, _(What do you mean, 'train?' How are you going to train me? And why?)_

His canine smile widened. **_(You seemed so interested in Illauna's training she put me through, I thought I'd give you a little sample. And not only will it warm you up for the second match that's sure to come, it'll keep you in shape since you aren't battling today.)_**

I frowned slightly. I figured that I was going to get my rear handed to me, but I hadn't had a chance to actually battle against my Lord, and it was intriguing to see how my strength compared to his. "I'll be down," I said after a moment. I turned back to Kazu, and asked, "Can we continue this after the first match?"

He nodded grimly and I took him back to the hotel room and then went outside to my Lord. He was sitting patiently on the lawn, still in his true form. When he noticed me, his ears perked. **_(Are you ready?)_** I nodded and then he said with a smirk, **_(See if you can catch me.)_** Then, he leaped into the Void.

I scrambled in after him, only to see his fading gold stripes in the distance. I pumped my legs to try and catch up with him, but he seemed to know where I was and kept the same distance between us. I ran into the wall of the Void and sprang up where I thought he was, but then saw that he was exactly where I had been earlier. **_(Nice trick,) _**he began, **_(but not good enough. You'll have to try harder.)_**

I frowned. "How am I supposed to catch you in here? You anticipate my every move, not to mention you're just faster than me." In the silence that followed, my panting was the only sound.

But then, his canine smile grew again. **_(Well, you'll have to figure that out for yourself. Imagine you face a pokemon both faster and cleverer than you. What do you do to defeat him?) _**I rolled my eyes; this was impossible!

"I roll over and die," I answered sarcastically. My Lord thought it was funny and laughed, his canine throat rumbling a strange cough.

**_(Interesting choice, but no,)_** he replied. He walked calmly to me and picked me up by the scruff of my neck. **_(I see we have a lot of work to do.)_** I didn't struggle against him, just sighed.

"And what kind of work are we going to do?" I asked without much enthusiasm.

_**(Oh… this and that.)**_

……………

I jumped off of the cliff face and rocketed into his side, earning a grunt of pain from my Lord. I felt it too, so I staggered when I landed. However, he caught me off guard when he snapped his jaws onto my back leg, then threw me into the face I had just jumped off of. I slid to the ground, panting to the point where my throat dried. I got up to the sound of my Lord's comments.

**_(That was good,) _**he said as he stood to his full height. We had been training for hours now, planning strategies, executing tricky attacks, and on my part, getting my butt handed to me. My Lord caught or counter-attacked every attack I had brought to him, giving it back to me with double the force. I knew he was strong, but not like this! Had I really been battling with him and not just sparring, I would have died a thousand times. **_(But,) _**he continued in between pants, **_(you left yourself wide open for a counter-attack, like I just showed you, or a sidestep. You would have crashed right into the ground, breaking all your teeth out.)_** He then took a defensive stance -which meant I was to attack first- and added, **_(Now try to hit me again.)_**

I nodded and launched myself at him again with an aerial ace attack. He sparked, and before I knew it, his thunder blasted me thirty feet away from him. I skidded and rolled another ten feet, then pushed myself back up. It looked like that wasn't going to work. I looked around for some kind of thing to use against him, but all I saw were bushes, trees and cliffs. Then, an idea struck me.

I readied myself again and then flew at him with another aerial ace. He seemed confused by this, but he shrugged it off. When I was close enough, he released another thunder, but I deflected it with my thunderbolt. His defense wide open, I sliced my scythe into his foreleg and landed behind him, staggering from the pain I felt. His leg went limp, but as soon as I was celebrating my infliction on him, he slammed me into the wall with a powerful swipe of his tail and a light thunder for good measure.

I had my eyes closed, so when I heard my Lord's human voice, I started. "Very good," he said, panting, "I didn't expect that." I looked up and saw him looking absently at the wound I had caused; his bright crimson blood slowly seeped into his white shirt and trailed lethargically down his half-bare arm. I gasped. I didn't mean to draw blood!

I hopped onto my sore feet and tried to sputter an apology, but he wouldn't hear of it. "I knew what could happen," he stated soothingly. "It's not your fault. I should have kept my guard better." He sat down on a rock and pulled out a small bag filled with potions and the like. I stared blankly at it for a moment. Where had that come from?

At my blank stare, he said, "I told Illauna what I wanted to do today and she lent me some. Last night, while you were asleep, I went and brought this bag here for today." He began spraying on his arm, which confused me.

"I thought pokemon medicines didn't work on humans?" He flinched, but I assumed it was from the potion, not my question. He shook his head and began to spray me with the super potion bottle.

"Technically, I'm not ENTIRELY human. Oh sure, I look, smell, sound and probably taste like a human, but the symbol on my forehead keeps me slightly pokemon." He sprayed a few more times, then put the bottle away in the bag. "I'm pokemon enough to be healed like this, but not enough to the point if some moron throws a ball at me, I'll go in. Does that make sense?"

I nodded slowly; it really didn't but I didn't want to delve into impossible sciences. He smiled at my understanding and looked at a small watch that he had pulled out of the bag. "We'd better get back now; I bet Shayla's starting to pace. Our match's coming up." He stood, then frowned as he picked at the bloody splotch on his sleeve. "This a problem… I'll look conspicuous…"

I shrugged. "Spit on it, then run it under some water, it'll come out." He looked at me with a quirked eyebrow, and I felt I had to explain myself. "Well… Shayla was reading this Marthy Stewy… magazine and I picked it up."

He rolled his eyes as he transformed into his true form. "You have a st_range selective mem**ory.)**_ He led us into the Void and back to the hotel, where through the veil, I could see hundreds of trainers lined up, talking, calming themselves and watching a TV with the current match. Shayla was easy to spot because she wasn't doing any of these; she was pacing quickly while staring at a watch.

Kaiyou and I stepped out of the Void amongst the throng of trainers in front of our own trainer. I was surprised that Kaiyou wanted to reveal himself, but he stepped out into the open before I could say anything. The conversations of the trainers stopped abruptly as he and I stepped out of the protective Void. He surveyed the trainers and then glanced down to Shayla, who wasn't captivated in an awe-struck silence like the other trainers. "Took you long enough," she muttered sternly. Kaiyou merely shrugged his canine shoulders.

She strode through the plethora of bodies to the dome, to which Kaiyou followed us through vanishing in and out of the Void where the facilities were too small to accommodate him. Shayla checked in and then we strode out onto the field. Our opponent was already in his cage-like stand, picking at his fingernails. Shayla, with great dignity, took her spot as the crowd cheered. Over the roar of the crowd, the man we were facing cried, "I'm gonna flatten you with my power, girlie!"

Since I was not participating, I could stand right beside my trainer and watch. The man sent out a very powerful-looking alakazam out, and I looked up to Shayla's face. She wore a menacing grin, and then called out for my Lord. "Kaiyou! Come out!"

My Lord slowly emerged from the Void from the now heightened podium Shayla and I stood upon. Once he was out completely, the announcer began to narrate the battle. **"And Cheston sends out his faithful alakazam! But Shayla… what pokemon does she have? I've never seen one like that before!"**

Cheston wasted no time. "Alakazam!" he cried, "psychic!"

Kaiyou sat down and began to scratch an itch as the attack hit him, then absorbed into him. The crowd gasped, and then the announcer cried, **"It's a Dark type! Psychic attacks are no use here! It seems that Cheston has lost precious time with that attack!"**

My Lord charged forward, his mouth open for a crunch attack. He grabbed the alakazam with his jaws, then sent the psychic pokemon flying into his trainer's podium. "Alakazam!" Cheston cried. The pokemon was already fainted, and he disappeared into the red light of his poke ball. The crowd went insane.

**"And Shayla Kyreson has taken out one of his pokemon in ONE HIT! Folks, I have NEVER seen the likes of this pokemon! What is it to make it so powerful? And Shayla isn't even commanding it!"**

As to prove the announcer's point, Shayla leaned back on the white railing and pulled out a little Garfield comic. Kaiyou was having a field day.

_**(Don't people train pokemon to a caliber that doesn't make me feel like I'm slaughtering these guys? It seems Illauna and Shayla are the only trainers competent enough to properly train.)**_

Cheston then threw out his next pokemon, a hitmonlee. Kaiyou sneered at the fighting-type, and sparks came flying around his fur. The judge took down his flags and a new match began.

The hitmonlee charged at my Lord with a high jump kick, but Kaiyou simply knocked him out of the way with a slap of his tail. The hitmonlee was pummeled into the concrete, leaving a dent. But he was not out. He rose, then charged with a mega kick. **"Can this hitmonlee withstand the incredible power of this strange new pokemon?"** the announcer asked rhetorically. _No…_ I replied bluntly in my mind.

My Lord rolled with the direction of the kick into the Void. For the moment that he had disappeared, the crowd gasped and then went silent. The hitmonlee, now at a loss for what to do, quickly glanced at his surroundings like a paranoid bird. **"Where did it go?"** the announcer asked.

The question was answered as Kaiyou jumped out of the Void right under the hitmonlee. The fighting pokemon was now in my Lord's jaws, suffering under his cruel fangs. With a quick movement of his head, the hitmonlee flew out of my Lord's mouth and back into the concrete, where it lay still.

"Hitmonlee is unable to battle!" the judge cried, "The new pokemon is the winner!"

The crowd was insane now; they rose to their feet and cheered to a deafening volume. Shayla merely turned a page and continued reading her Garfield. **"AMAZING!"** the announcer cried, **"This new pokemon seems to be unbeatable! Will Cheston be able to overcome this pokemon with his last?"**

Kaiyou then howled a haunting note, making the crowd silence momentarily. Then they erupted into an even louder roar, which made my Lord chuckle happily. **_(They like what see,) _**he snickered in my mental ear.

I merely shook my head; my Lord was giddy. His tail swung from side to side as he wagged it cheerfully and Cheston sent out Kaiyou's next and final victim. It was a blastoise, sturdy, powerful. Of course, he wasn't strong enough to withstand my Lord's power. Kaiyou snarled, then let his own thunder envelop him in a strange, yellow and gold aura. It sparked dangerously around him, creating an electric shield. He let a feral howl out of his throat, then unleashed it upon the poor blastoise, who could do naught but watch. The electricity hit the water tortoise; then the blastoise fell and did not attempt to get back up. Kaiyou righted his posture as the judge proclaimed Kaiyou and Shayla -who was still reading Garfield- the winners.

**"Amazing!"** the announcer proclaimed as we left the podium, **"Simply amazing! What kind of pokemon is Shayla wielding to have that specimen on her team? I feel sorry for the next trainer to cross her!"** We strode away -my Lord in the Veil beside us- from the field and into the lobby. Some trainers stepped back from us; others drew close to us and bombarded Shayla with question after question.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Can I have it?"

"I'll trade you ANYTHING for it!"

"I'll give you whatever you want -money, pokemon, ANYTHING!"

Shayla paid no heed to these questions as we slowly made our way to our hotel room. "We won't know who we face next until the prelims are done. We'll chill out at the hotel room until we're called, assuming we get there before then." The last part came out in a gritted frown, and it made me chuckle. I hopped into the Void and joined my Lord.

"That was a nice display you had," I began smugly. "Were we merely showing off power?"

Kaiyou shrugged his canine shoulders. **_(Depends on how you look at it. One COULD say that I was showing off -which is simply preposterous- or that I was battling. I didn't want to take any chances with hitting a pokemon with too little strength; that would let them get a counter-attack in.)_** I frowned.

"Not likely," I replied sarcastically. He hit me lightly with his great black paw and scoffed. I sighed and then trotted onward. Arden then entered my mind, and I swooned happily at the thought of conversing with him again. Kaiyou noticed and asked, **_(…What are you thinking about to have THAT expression on your face?)_**

I corrected my expression to one of contempt. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

He laughed. **_(Is my Ayako daydreaming? Oooh, what about?)_**

"Nothing!" I cried again, this time a little desperate. Wrong move.

**_(It HAS to be something -something IMPORTANT- to receive a denial like that. Let's see… I doubt it's of anyone I know…) _**I sighed heavily as he went on, trying to guess. **_(You have a boyfriend, don't you?)_**

"I do not!" I cried indignantly.

**_(You do now,) _**he replied with a snicker. **_(My sister was like that when she first fell in love. I know the drill. So who is it? The jolteon?)_**

I stopped dead in my tracks. Why would he think of Tai? Why not Kazu? I glared up at him, and replied, "NO! It's not him! I would have to have a complete mental breakdown before I even… bleh," I concluded, not able to finish my sentence. But what confused me the most was that it was not disgust that I felt for the jolteon deep inside, though it was what I conveyed. What was that little flutter in my stomach called?

Kaiyou was silent for a little bit, then, **_(Don't be too sure, Ayako. However, if that's what you want, fine. It's not the jolteon.)_**

"No, it's not," I replied sternly.

**_(So who is it?)_** I sighed again, feeling my stubbornness fade. Maybe I should just tell him…

"A… Another absol. His name's Arden. I met him in the air lock at the beginning of the opening ceremony."

I saw my Lord's eyebrow cock. **_(Air lock… that's romantic.)_**

I hit him with my clawed paw. "I never said it was!" I exclaimed. "He's nice, and he's smart, and…"

As I told my Lord what had transpired between Arden and I, he listened silently, merely nodding and interjecting little "yes's" and "no's" whenever I asked him something. At the end, he said softly, **_(Ayako, you've only met him once. Don't get too carried away in your fantasies. They may misguide you.)_**

I looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?" But instead of elaborating, he merely shrugged and then leaped out of the Void to our suite. Jumping out after him, I stood in the den, still baffled as I watched him transformed. What did he have against Arden? I frowned and then plopped down onto the couch, not bothering to follow the now human Kaiyou into his room. What did he know about Arden? He didn't meet him. He wasn't there when we met.

I sighed and drifted off to sleep, frustrated at my Lord's narrow mind. Kaiyou didn't know anything… didn't… know anything…

……………………….

Yeah, yeah I know. Sucky ending, but I had to end it somewhere. So meh.

School sucks. We get out on the 21st of December for Christmas. Isn't that stupid? Hate.

Oh well.

Ja!


	27. Disobedience

Hello! Well, today's a wonderful day because the roads are too hazardous to go to school. So… SNOW DAY! (Well, actually a sleety ice day). Woot. I've been catching up on my sleep and playing FFX. I'm stuck at another

boss battle.

Lots of angst in here… it can't be avoided. Sorry.

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 27**_

_**Disobedience**_

I awoke in the suit's living room to the poke of a small paw in my side. From a small glance to the clock, I saw that it was 5:45 pm. I looked up and saw Tai, who was wearing a sour face. "He's here to see you," he stated softly. I blinked for a moment and tried to figure out whom he meant.

"What are you talking about?" I asked sleepily, to which he growled in annoyance.

"That Armpit dude." At my blank stare, he growled again. "That absol you met in the airlock before the opening ceremony!"

"You mean Arden?" I replied, to which he nodded irritably. I jumped happily to my feet. "Where is he?" Tai nodded his head unenthusiastically to the door, to which I began to trot over. He stopped me by biting gently onto my tail.

"I don't like him," he said softly after he let my webbed tail go. "He smells funny. You shouldn't go out alone with him."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't make your inferiority complex his problem," I replied scathingly. "You don't like any Dark. You didn't like Kaiyou when you first met him."

He growled. "That's different! He was acting like an ass and he looked like an umbreon! Now he's okay, but that's not the point!" He took a deep breath and then continued in a hushed voice, "This Garden dude is big trouble, Xena. And it's not my 'inferiority problem' or whatever. Kazu and Amburna agree with me."

I glared. "How dare you bring the rest of them into this!" I turned completely around and pushed my face within inches of his. He shrank back a bit, but I didn't care. "This is none of their concern! What happens between me and him is OUR business. In fact, I don't recall asking for your narrow-minded opinion about him, so why don't you just piss off?" His chocolate brown eyes flinched and faltered a bit. I knew I had hurt him, but the pent-up rage grew and I had to hurt him more. "And while you're at it, learn to remember people's name's for Godssake! It's NOT that complicated a name!"

He stared at me for a moment, then turned for Shayla's room. "Fine! Go! You don't seem to need any common sense, so go ahead!See if I care!" He retreated into his trainer's room, and then I noticed Kaiyou leaning against his doorframe, a disapproving grimace etched into his pale face.

"That was rather rude of you," he stated softly. I growled at him. What was it with everyone and Arden? He wasn't a bad guy! And why was I getting punished for merely talking with him?

I glared. "It was rude of him to simply assume Arden's a bad guy from the five minutes he listened to us!" Kaiyou cocked an eyebrow.

"And it's stupid of you to simply assume he's a good guy from the five minutes you talked to him." Since I couldn't come up with an appropriate reply, he continued. "Tai's just trying to look out for you. His nose IS better than yours is, so you need to listen to him. And just because Arden's an absol does not mean he won't try to hurt you. You don't know his motives."

"And niether do you! Why aren't you putting faith into him? He's a Dark! One of our own!"

His gaze narrowed and I could feel anger and irritation seeping from him. "Now every Darkling is a good pokemon, Ayako. You should know that by now. You, me and a few others are rarities of the Dark race; most Darks are loners, cold, and sometimes even malicious. He could be using you for all you know."

I put a foot forward. "And for all you know, he could just want to be my friend!"

His shoulders sagged and his upper lip drew up in a slight snarl. His hand reached up to his brow, and he began rubbing. My Lord took in some deep breaths for a moment, then glared back at me. "Fine. Go ahead. I could just tell you not to go, but you seem so damn certain. So go. Disregard your Lord and your comrade." He then pointed a finger at me accusingly. "But I warned you. And when you're in trouble, don't call to me for help." He then turned and slammed the door to his room.

Suddenly, a feeling, a presence, fell away from my mind. The emptiness that was now inside me almost made me collapse. It hurt, but then it didn't hurt at all. It was strange, like a knife in my chest, but when I looked down, there was nothing. Then as I looked around for the source of the pain, I realized that I was alone. Utterly. Usually, I could feel my Lord's presence, but there was nothing. _(My Lord?)_ I asked.

Nothing.

I snarled and then turned back to the door and opened it with my paw. There sat Arden, looking up at the ceiling. When he noticed me, he smiled slowly and asked tentatively, "…So your teammates don't approve of me, huh?"

I frowned and replied, "Don't mind them. They don't know what they're talking about." I started for the stairs, him following at my side. I was about to ask him why he didn't seem to feel Kaiyou's presence, but he began the conversation first.

"So who are your comrades?" he asked politely. "I would love to know who works with such a beautiful lady."

I giggled. How could a wonderful person be bad? "Well," I began as I chuckled, "there's Amburna, a dragonair. I know she's way beyond the level that she can evolve, but she doesn't seem to want to. But even though she hasn't evolved, she's really strong. I saw her take down the two pokemon at the Mossdeep gym with one surf."

His brow went up. "Amazing. Your trainer must be very talented."

I nodded. "She is. Then there's Kiya, an aggron. I haven't really seen her battle because she was only recently transferred to us. The one that had her spot… well…" I tried to put Saji's death into the right words. "He… he died…"

Arden stopped in his tracks, shock and sorrow in his crimson eyes. "I'm so sorry… Were you two… close?"

I nodded my head slightly. "I knew him. He was a good friend and a good fighter. He died in Sootopolis… battling…" I didn't want to say Anubo's name, "…that pokemon that was rampaging around -you heard of it didn't you?"

He nodded. "You… you battled him?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah, a bit. But the ones who battled the most were Kaiyou and Yasille."

At this, his mouth opened in shock. "You… you mean Kaiyou, the Dark Legendary? You know him personally?"

I smiled. "Yup. He's even on our team right now. He promised Shayla -that's my trainer- that he would help her out in the League because of Saji -that's the scizor that… died." Arden then began walking again, and I told him about Kazu and Tai. But he didn't really seem too interested in them and kept asking about Kaiyou. Of course, I figured that would happen. When you live your life thinking your don't have a god to pray to, it's an amazing epiphany in the realization that you do.

I told him everything I knew about Kaiyou, leaving Kuvai and the details about Yasille out, as we made our way to the bottom of the stairs. He was very intrigued about him, but of course, who wouldn't be? I told him of training with our Lord, and how Kaiyou had won our first match with ease.

We exited the hotel and made our way to the small pond that was a little out to the east of the hotel. The moon sparkled over the blue pond, and the first stars, which were slowly being lit one by one, watched over us. Out over the crags of Victory Road, I could see the faint lights of Mossdeep and Sootopolis. I sighed at the beauty of it all.

"So Ayako," Arden began after a calm silence, "this Kaiyou… I saw his match earlier. How did he disappear like that? After the hitmonlee tried to kick him, he simply vanished."

My smile grew into a mischievous grin. "Why, he used the Void. Have you never gone into it?" I took his blank stare for a no. "It's really easy," I assured as I went to a shadowed tree. He followed me uncertainly. "All you have to do is want to go into the Void, jump into a shadow, and then you're there!"

He looked at the tree uneasily, then back to me. "Are you sure I can do it?"

I scoffed and said, "A newborn houndour could do it, given proper instruction. Any Dark can go into it; it's our gift and our sanctuary." I then demonstrated by walking calmly into the tree's shadow, then turned and came halfway back out. Arden was completely overwhelmed. He stood there; mouth agape and I began laughing. This must have been how Eclipse felt when he taught me. "Come on, it's not going to hurt you."

He came slowly towards me, and I retreated entirely into the Void. Through the veil, I could see him pause, then he jumped in beside me. His feet faltered, probably because he expected to crash into the tree, and he glanced around. When his eyes found me, he said, "This… this is your Void?"

I nodded. "Yup. You can do all sorts of things here. You can go anywhere you want. In a battle, you can come up right under your opponent and take him completely by surprise!" He smiled and began running around in the swirling purple and black space.

"Amazing! Simply amazing! I knew there was something special about you, Ayako, and I found one of the things that makes you so unique." He came back to me and nuzzled my cheek. "What else is there you can teach me? I feel so ignorant now that I've seen this wonderful place."

I smiled and returned his nuzzle, which took him a little by surprise. "Well… why don't we spar? You should learn to use the Void correctly before you go into battle."

His toothy grin spread across his white and black face. "I would love nothing more."

………………

We battled in the field that Kaiyou and I had used until first light warmed the clouded sky. Arden was awkward at using the Void at first, sometimes appearing thirty feet away from me when he was supposed to be right beside me. But he eventually grew better and we began to battle in and out of the Void. After we were tired, we went back to the hotel, bidding farewell at the third floor of the stairwell. He thanked me many times for acquainting him to the Void, and wanted me to introduce him to Kaiyou, but I told him that would have to wait. I didn't want to think of the meeting between them just yet.

I used the Void again to get into our suite to see Tai, Kazu, Kaiyou -in his human form- and the others eating breakfast. The jolteon glared at me coldly, while Kazu glanced worriedly at his brother. Kaiyou didn't look at me at all and continued eating his cereal. I flinched at the lack of a greeting from my Lord, but then Shayla came over to me with my bowl of food. "You shouldn't run off like that, girl," she admonished softly. "I was worried."

I muttered a "sorry" and began to eat. Shayla grabbed her purse, which had been hidden away in her backpack, and announced, "I have to go down to the lobby and see when our battle is. I'll be back in a little while." The rest of my comrades said a collective goodbye, and when the door shut, Tai looked up from his now finished bowl of food.

"So what did you do last night -or should I say this morning- that lasted so long?" the jolteon asked, his voice dripping with venom. I looked up from my own bowl, glaring at him. What was his problem?

"What do you care? I told you last night: what goes on between him and me is OUR business. So why don't you take your nose out of it?"

Kazu glanced between the two of us, fear plain on his face. I almost felt sorry for him, but my sympathy was overruled by my anger. Tai stepped over his bowl towards me. "Because you're my teammate, and what stupid, irrational stunts you pull affect us all! We have a match today, Ayako! Are you even strong enough to fight?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Most of the pokemon here are weaklings; you've said so yourself! And besides, Kaiyou's here. He can take my place."

Kaiyou glared down at me, and for a moment, I was scared of him. "Don't you drag me into this," he warned softly. He then turned back to his cereal and began reading the Candide book again. I recoiled a step; his cold reply physically hurt. Tai turned back to me again and said, "He's different, Xena. He's not one of Shayla's permanent pokemon. He comes and goes as he pleases. What if he decided to leave today and all we had for a Dark pokemon was you? What could we do then? You let us down, absol."

Though it did sting that he used my species name, something he hadn't done since we first met, I wasn't daunted. He was jealous. Just jealous. I was about to reply when Kazu jumped in between us.

"Would you two stop?" he almost yelled. "I hate it when teammates fight! Especially when it involves my brother and one of my best friends! Please, would you two talk like civilized pokemon and try to work this out?"

I snarled. "If he CAN talk like a civilized pokemon." Tai snapped at me over his brother's shoulder. Kazu held him back with a psychic, and me with his forked tail. Amburna slithered to me and wrapped loosely around my legs and middle. Though she was relaxed now, I knew that if I tried to get away, her gentle hold would become suffocating.

"This is what I'm talking about!" Kazu shouted. "You're acting like children! Tai, Ayako, I agree with both of you. She had no right to go out like that without permission, especially with a battle today. But she also has the right to be friends with whomever she wants. So how are we going to settle this?"

Tai growled under his younger brother's hold. "Let me go, Kazu. THEN we'll be able to settle things."

Amburna squeezed a little harder when I tried to get out. "Fighting will do nothing except wear you out," she said in an almost motherly tone, "and that's not something we need right now. Shayla needs all of us to be healthy and fit. After today, then you settle your petty squabbles. But NOT NOW."

Kazu nodded and turned to his older brother. "Tai, please be reasonable. Settle down and think this through."

I scoffed from my position in Amburna's coil. "That's a lark. Him, thinking?"

Tai snarled again as sparks began to dance around his psychic bubble. "I do it more than you if you go out to rendezvous with some two-faced bastard." I snapped at him and Amburna's hold on me tightened. He was cocky now; he had a button to push.

"I really thought you were better than that, absol." The last word was saturated with disdain. "But I guess you're just like the other Darks I've met; save for your Lord. You're all two-timing, back-stabbing bastards! Why don't you go back to that damn Void of yours and stay there? It would help us all out!"

I struggled to get out of my captor's hold again, but the dragonair wouldn't relent. "How DARE you! Back-stabber? How in Hell am I a back-stabber? What wrong have I done, save for seeing Arden? You should know what you're accusing before your mouth spews it, jolteon."

He was about to reply, but his anger suddenly left him. His shoulders sagged and Kazu's psychic vanished. Momentarily, I was worried. What had happened to him? "I just…" His voice was fragile, a mere whisper. "I just wanted…"

Then, for the first time since the fight had started, Kaiyou stirred. He stood stoically and placed a placating hand on Tai's spiky head. For some reason, jealousy for the electric dog swelled within me. Why did my Lord go to him? Tai wasn't even our element! He was in the wrong! I was the victim! How could my Lord side with the gluttonous jerk? Kaiyou picked up Tai, and then, in an almost silent murmur, he stated, "Now you know how he feels." My Lord then went into his room, Tai in his arms, and shut the door.

Amburna let me go as soon as Tai was out of sight. I didn't stir from my spot on the floor; I was too shocked to move. Kazu slowly came up to me and asked, "Are you okay?"

I turned my eyes to his, and felt terrible. I had just put him in a horrible position, one that he wasn't made to handle. I sighed and plopped down onto my butt. "I don't know," I muttered. The absence of Tai's happiness and Kaiyou's mere presence put my mental state into shambles. I couldn't think straight. I became annoyed at the tinniest little things. Was Arden's friendship worth this? Was my pride worth it?

Amburna, in all her wisdom, seemed to know what my mind had come to. "You should tell the other absol what you've decided. Then, you can apologize to Tai and Kaiyou."

Pride overtook my logic. "Apologize? But-"

She wormed her way in front of my face and said sternly, "Ayako, listen. You WILL apologize. You have hurt them more than you know. Tai especially. And if you do not know why, then you truly are a simpleton. For all of us, please, just end it. Sacrifice a little to save the unity of this team."

I sighed. She was right. For whatever reason, Arden had torn Tai and I apart, I had to mend it. Though it would be hard; I wasn't one to give up so easily. From Amburna's sturdy stare, I made my way to the door, about to find the room where he lived. I needed to find Arden.

……………

Finally! She gets some sense in her. And why does Tai freak out about Arden? Duh… it's so obvious…

Sorry about the huge amount of angst. It's inevitable. And I think it's written really bad, so I apologize about that too.

Ja!


	28. Motives Revealed

Hey, guys! I'm feeling a little weird because I'm wearing gloves as I type. It's a wonder there aren't hundreds of typos everywhere… Oh well!

My game boy advance is dying slowly and painfully. Well, it's had a good run. I've had it for about four or five years and I bought it used. It kept working even after I threw it into the floor and ricocheted into the wall, after I bit the screen twice -which left puncture marks- and all of the endless hours of game play. I'm going to miss my little white game boy advance and will keep it for sentimental value… and in hopes that this is just a fade, like my computer. But until it gets better, I have a DS.

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 28**_

_**Motives Revealed**_

I knew what I had to do though it pained me to do it. The problem was how was I going to break it to him?

Arden wasn't a bad guy… He had to understand the reasons I would give him. He had to understand that I couldn't sacrifice my team for just him… I sighed and looked over my shoulder to Amburna, who was staring at me firmly. I frowned and replied to her glare, "All right, all right. I'm going…"

As I was about to enter the Void via the couch, the door swung open to reveal a panting Shayla, who was clutching her chest with her hand. "We gotta go," she said in between breaths. "We're… second. The first match is… almost over."

As I stood there blankly, she ran to Kaiyou's room, where a complacent Dark Lord and somber Tai emerged. "Come on, guys!" she yelled while pulling Kaiyou by his pale, human arm, "We have to get to the stadium in like…" she checked her watch, "…five minutes! Let's go!"

I frowned, turned to the wall and then opened up the Void. "We could go this way," I said softly. Shayla looked at the open, swirling black portal, then shrugged and ran in. The rest of the team followed, and I went in after Tai. I closed up the portal when we were all in the Void.

Kaiyou, now back into his true form, led the way. Shayla was hopping impatiently as she tried convincing Kaiyou to move faster, but nothing would persuade him. He meandered to a spot in the wall of the Void and then poked it with his paw, which created a swirling whirlpool of indigoes and black. Shayla ran into it without hesitation, while the rest of us calmly went through.

We emerged into a crowd in one of the lobbies. Shayla was trying to get us to the field, but couldn't get past the solid wall of trainers inquiring her of Kaiyou. Irritated, she turned to my Lord and demanded tersely, "Well, aren't you going to help? We have to get there in three minutes or we forfeit!

Kaiyou seemed to contemplate her rather rude request and then replied by picking her up with his teeth by her jacket. She hung like a small kit in the mouth of her parent, dangling from her jacket limply. Kaiyou bounded over the trainers and onto the field.

We dashed between the trainers' legs and got to the field, where Shayla was now frowning at her blue jacket, which had two new holes in it. My Lord was no where in sight. She returned all of us to our poke balls, save for Tai and myself, and we boarded the podium as it ascended into the air. The other trainer was already on her own podium, an indifferent tropius hovering in the air above her. Her blue eyes glared at Shayla, but my trainer didn't flinch at the glare.

The announcer began to trumpet on the PA. **"Hello, and welcome to the second match of the second round! Here, the blonde, blue-eyed trainer hailing from Goldenrod, Bianca! She has her own tropius out, one of her pokemon we'll be seeing in battle this match, folks! And in this corner, the Third Place winner of Kanto, the Champion of Johto, please welcome, Shayla Kyreson!" **The crowd roared and Shayla nodded slightly to her fans. **"Maybe we'll get to see that mysterious new pokemon we saw last round, folks! I wonder if Bianca has a pokemon mighty enough to conquer it!"** Another roar from the crowd, and then, **"Let the match begin!"**

Bianca didn't hesitate in her pokemon. The poke ball flew into the air and released a golem. Shayla was about to reach down to me to send me out, but Tai barked at her. She glanced at him, and whispered, "Tai, you want to fight a GOLEM?" Tai's response was jumping out into the grassy field.

"Tai!" Shayla cried as the jolteon took his stance in front of the golem. Said golem laughed and began to flex his muscles. Tai didn't seem deterred at the display at all; he just stood there.

"Tai, what are you doing?" I shouted. The only answer I got from him was a glare over his shoulder. I sat back on my haunches. Shayla couldn't switch him out until he fainted. I turned back to Shayla, who had a grim frown on her face. She leaned back onto the railing and turned to me.

"Nothing we can do now, girl. Let's just hope that the golem doesn't know earthquake." I sighed and turned back to the field as well.

_(Kaiyou?)_ I asked, hoping he was over his anger. Even though I couldn't feel his presence, I knew he was watching the match from the Void. _(My Lord, what's wrong with Tai? Why did he do that?)_ I listened for an answer, but I didn't get one. I went to my haunches. He was still mad…

Bianca pointed to Tai and screamed, "Rocket! Earthquake!"

_Oh, shit…_

The golem crouched onto the ground and then flew into the air, propelled by his tremendous legs. He came down, and the earth split under the force of his attack. But Tai wasn't on the ground to be hit by the attack.

The jolteon, right as the golem came onto the ground, catapulted himself into the air with the aid of a quick attack. Before the golem realized where Tai was, the jolteon had latched onto the ground/rock type's face with a mighty bite attack. The golem screamed and tried to slash at Tai, but he was already out of the way. He ran circles around the hulking mass of rock, biting and kicking anything he could before the golem tried to attack. A few minutes of this, the golem simply sat down on the field, exhausted from trying to keep up with my teammate.

Tai slid in front of the golem, stern in face and body. The golem, tired and dizzy, collapsed to the ground, giving the round up. The judge held up the flag symbolizing us, and shouted, "Golem is unable to battle! Jolteon is the winner!"

Tai's chest puffed out as he stood valiantly on the field as Bianca withdrew her pokemon. The crowd erupted into cheers and screams as the announcer proclaimed, **"AMAZING! This trainer's just full of surprises! A jolteon just beat a golem without a scratch on him! This is simply AMAZING!"**

Bianca was looking a little nervous now. She weighed two poke balls in her hands, one of the tropius beside her. That golem was probably her only chance to beat Tai. She finally made her choice and sent it out to the field. A flash of red, and then a salamence, an intimidating, powerful blue dragon took his place on the field. Tai took a small step backwards at the sight of the blue dragon. At that time, the judge proclaimed, "Round two: salamence versus jolteon! Begin!"

Tai's thunder attack was blindingly fast, striking the dragon before he knew what hit him. Tai followed up the electric attack with an extreemspeed attack, and landed on the ground with a skid. The air was full of dust, so we waited to see if the salamence had been done in by Tai's consecutive attacks. Our answer was a stream of flame from the cloud of dust.

Tai's reflexes helped him escape the full brunt of the attack, but his hindquarters were singed. He yelped, but resumed his position on the field. He didn't get much time to rest, however. The salamence blew flamethrower after flamethrower at the jolteon, not always missing. I could see the fatigue in Tai's movements: his dodges were sluggish, he limped, his direction changes were almost nonexistent, and by the time the entire field was burning with the dragon's flamethrowers, Tai collapsed, exhausted, onto the charred field.

"TAI!" I screamed. I looked to Shayla, who was bending over the rail, trying to get the marred jolteon back to his feet. The salamence was in the air, preparing for an air attack. Red tongues of flame spouted from his mouth, and he began to plummet towards the limp jolteon below. "TAI!" I screamed again. He didn't move.

The salamence was gaining momentum and was almost to Tai, about to release his flamethrower. Suddenly, Tai's eyes opened, and a great flash of electricity enveloped him. The salamence had no time to bank out of the way, and Tai's thunder hit right on target. The power of the electric affront launched the dragon to the stands, where he hit the fiberglass shield to protect the fans. The dragon fell limply to the ground. Tai did the same.

The judge's flags went down. "Both pokemon are unable to battle! Choose your next pokemon!" The crowd went insane; cheers and screams echoed in my ears. The announcer was just as enthusiastic. **"That jolteon sure put up a fight! Even after winning an exhausting battle against a GOLEM, he put down the salamence as well! With a sacrificing move, that jolteon smote his foe upon the field! Oh, fans, this is a fantastic match! What will the next round be like?" **Shayla patted me on the scythe as Tai returned to his poke ball.

"Your turn, girl," she said simply. I nodded and jumped out onto the field, ready for the tropius. Said tropius lethargically made its way to the field, landing with a heavy thud on the grass. "Third and final round: tropius versus absol! Begin!" The judge's flags went down, and my ice beam flew from my mouth, hitting the tropius right in the chest. He was thrown into his trainer's podium, but was not yet out. He flew into the air and began to glow.

"Demi!" Shayla called from behind me, "He's about to use solarbeam! Get your ass out of there!" I glared at the glowing tropius and looked for some kind of shadow. I had to get into the Void! I found a suitable shadow and leapt into it right as the solarbeam hit the ground I was just standing on.

I ran through the Void and came back onto the field using the tropius's own shadow, releasing another ice beam as I did. The tropius roared and let himself fall, trying to use a body slam on me. I simply ducked back into the Void before his weight could smother me.

I stood in the Void, panting, waiting for the right moment to spring back into battle. The tropius was down, but still not out. I cursed my luck; I got the one tropius with good special defense. Right when I was about to go back into the battle, I felt something behind me. I turned to see my Lord, sitting on his ebony haunches, staring at me expectantly. My legs faltered under his stare; I felt forced to say something, anything.

"I… I'm sorry…"

His head lifted, but his gaze did not. **_(…You have a battle to finish.)_** He said nothing more, and my hopes of him forgiving me were battered.

"I really am! I'm sorry!" I shouted at the great black and golden wolf in front of me. "Please, forgive me!" At his silence, I began to snarl. "SAY SOMETHING!"

He did nothing for a moment. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally lowered his muzzle to my side. I thought he was going to say something, but he just pushed me out of the Void and back into the battle. The troipus, having used morning sun on himself, was back into fighting form and ready to go. He charged at me, mouth open, flat feet out in front of him. I dodged to the side and he ran straight into Shayla's podium. I fired an ice beam at him, and he finally plopped onto the ground, unconscious.

The judge raised our flag and proclaimed, "Tropius is unable to battle! Victory goes to Shayla and her absol!" As the grass/flying type was called back into his poke ball, the announcer cried, **"And the absol wins! With using the same disappearing trick as the mysterious Dark pokemon, the absol triumphs over the tropius! Wonderful! This trainer, Miss Kyerson, may just be the next Hoenn Champion, fans! What an upset! What fantastic battles!" **

Shayla stepped off her now ground-level podium and headed for the air lock. She seemed upset with herself, and I figured it was with Tai. He knew better than to jump into battle like that! Especially against a golem, of all pokemon! I frowned as well. _What a hypocrite! _my mind screamed. _How DARE he say all of those things he said to me and then go and pull a stunt like that! Stupid, stupid jolteon!_

Suddenly, without warning, Kaiyou voice came into my head. **_(It was to prove a point, Ayako. Think of it as… a metaphor for your situation.)_**

My scowl deepened. _(I didn't think he knew what a metaphor was.)_

A snarl rumbled in my mind, and then, **_(Would you stop that?)_**

_(Stop what?)_

_**(Belittling him like that! It does more damage than good. And it's very annoying.)**_

I sent him a snarl of my own. _(But it's the truth!)_

At that moment, an unseen force battered my mind: a mental attack from my Lord. **_(NEVER say that. It's those kind of words and thoughts that piss me off. How do you know what he knows when you automatically assume without asking? You say he's ignorant, stupid, incompetent, yes? Then you are the same for assuming he is. Simple, arrogant girl!) _**I stopped in my tracks at one of the ticket booths outside the dome. Without regard to the onlookers, I entered the Void to see my Lord pacing back and forth a few yards from me. His fur was bristled, his tail straight out behind him. I gulped. He was NOT a happy Dark Legendary.

_(Why are you so mad at me?)_ I asked softly, and I felt his irritation and frustration build. His head snapped to me and a lip came up ever so slightly.

**_(Do you REALLY need me to answer that?)_** His tone was tired, weary, and disappointed. **_(If you had been listening to the conversation for the past five minutes, you'd know. Or do you assume that you don't need to listen to me either?)_**

I backed away from him a few steps. _(I… No, of course not… My Lord… I thought you should know that I'm going to tell Arden that I'm not going to be seeing him because you all don't like him.) _Kaiyou paused in his pacing and stared at me expectantly. _(What I said to Tai… it was wrong…)_

His crimson eyes narrowed. **_(Is that your reasoning or Amburna's? Because judging from the little coy remark you just said, I'd think the latter. Are you really sorry or are you trying to simply placate us?)_**

I flinched. Damn, he was tough! _(Well… I…)_

A pause of silence, then Kaiyou scoffed and began to pace again. **_(I thought so.)_**

"At least I'm making an effort to make it right!" I shouted. "I hate this! You being mad at me, Tai being mad, Kazu caught in a bad position between Tai and me… I hate it! And I want to make it all right again, even if Arden has to go away! Though, I still don't understand why you won't give him a chance, I'm willing to give him up for the team!"

Kaiyou turned and pushed his face towards me, stopping mere inches from my own. **_(You don't understand? Because you disregarded and deserted your team and me for him. Because I have seen him before, and he smelled like trouble. Because after he left you in the stairwell, he kept muttering something about a plan being able to work. He's a devilish, slinking, skulking snake in the grass and I'll be DAMNED before I let you fraternize with a treacherous bastard like that. You understand me?)_**

By the time he was finished, I was sitting on my haunches, leaning away from the black muzzle of my Lord. I nodded and he backed away ever so slightly. I looked up at him as his head leveled out a margin above the base of his neck. "Why didn't you tell me before? All of this could have been avoided…"

**_(No it wouldn't,) _**he interrupted tersely. **_(You would have paid as much attention to my counsel as you did before. Or better yet, lack thereof. You wouldn't have believed me.)_** He began to pace again for a while, growling softly as he did. I didn't try to pry the conversation out of him, so I merely waited as he fought what inner demons he possessed. He stopped in his pacing, then added softly, **_(So you're going to say goodbye to him?)_**

I nodded slowly. "Yeah… I am."

He nodded his grand head as well. A low rumble came from deep within his throat and he replied in a whisper, **_(Then go. Shayla will want us back soon.) _**I bowed and made my way through the Void to the third flight of stairs in the hotel. I sniffed around, caught Arden's scent, and followed it down the corridor.

What was I going to say to him? _Sorry, I can't be with you because my teammates hate you…_ No… That was a bit too blunt. I scowled. How was there an easy way to put it? Was there even an easy way in the first place? _No…_ a part of my mind replied bluntly. _There never is._

The scent stopped at the room 344, and I saw nothing special: a plain white door, like our own, and a golden plate in the middle of said door with the room's number on it. I scratched on the door and waited, but no answer. I was about to leave when Arden emerged from the Void beside me. "Ah, Miss Ayako! I was hoping I'd see you today! How are you?"

I shrugged. "All right… Look, Arden, I need to talk to you."

"And I you," he said quickly. "My trainer and I found something unbelievable! Please, you have to see it!" He began to run back into the Void, but I grabbed his tail by my teeth.

"Arden, you and I need to talk! Please!" He didn't hear me -or just didn't listen- and pulled away from me. I lost my hold on his tail and fell backwards onto my butt, somewhat irritated. "Arden!"

His head poked out from the Void and he said, "Miss Ayako, I promise I'll talk with you about whatever you want, but please! You HAVE to see this!" He disappeared again, and I sighed. What else could I do but go see whatever amazing doodad he had found? Sullenly, I trudged into the Void and followed Arden to wherever he was taking me.

I emerged to a wide space -grand in size and elegance to be a gym- and saw nothing but purple tile. "Arden?" I called, but there was nothing to reply except the echo of my own voice. "Arden, where are you?"

Then, in the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of white. I followed it with my eyes and saw Arden at the foot of a trainer. My tail began to slowly wag. "Okay, Arden, what's this fantastic thing you wanted to show me? And it had better be good." I came about three feet of him and sat down, waiting for whatever magnificent thing it was he wanted to show me. He grinned and then looked up to his trainer. The middle-aged man nodded and then walked calmly to a metal box with wires everywhere.

"That's it over there," Arden commented smoothly, quite different from the excited tone he had before. "Go look."

I narrowed my eyes. I had a bad feeling about this. Nonetheless, I walked cautiously to the metal box. The trainer held open the lid for me to see in it: it was just a bunch of unlit fluorescent lights rigged to the top, sides and bottom of the box. It was a pretty big box, about the size of a trunk or so. I could probably fit in it… Then, an idea struck me. _Wait a minute…_

My eyes darted to the trainer, where on the inside collar of his shirt I saw a small red "R" etched into the cloth. My eyes widened and breath caught in my throat. Any competent pokemon knew what that "R" meant!

The trainer must have caught on to what I was thinking and then tried to push me into the box. I threw him back with a thunderbolt, then tried to get back into the Void, but Arden blocked me. "You figured it out, eh?" he commented smoothly as he began to circle me.

I snarled, furious at his betrayal. "How DARE you! You just wanted me for your damn cult, huh?"

He scoffed. "You think too small. My trainer and I were sent on this mission to recover a certain Dark Legendary and his current trainer, the Legendary Pokemon Trainer, Illauna! Giovanni's been trying to recruit her for years, but she keeps slipping out of his grasp. And then we heard of two more new pokemon traveling with her: some Ghost/Dark type and a once-thought-extinct Light pokemon. Giovanni wants them for his plan, and you're bait."

……………………

WOO! I FINISHED!

So, Arden's a bastard after all! Good for you who thought he was! Wootie-woot woot.

Don't know when the next one's coming out… I'll try to write as soon as I can.

I have Nintendogs! I have a German Shepherd, a Sheltie, and a Siberian Husky! They're so damn CUTE.

Ja!


	29. Fury

…I have been reading the wonderful, wonderful manga of Death Note for the past week or so and now, for you veteran readers of this manga, I have reached THAT PART. Chapter 58. That horrible chapter 58. I started crying there. And now, when ever I see Raito/Light, I feel a seething hate for anything he has to say or think. It's 2 o' clock in the morning right now, and I can't sleep, because all I can think about is chapter 58, even though I'm really on chapter 68. I'm really only half-aware of what's going on in that chapter, since my mental state has been ripped to tiny bits.

So, just using this aurthoress' note as a vent…

DAMN YOU RAITO! DAMN YOU TO FRICKEN' HELL! MY GOD, I HOPE YOU GET SHOT 37 TIMES IN THE STOMACH, OR SOME OTHER HORRIBLY SLOW DEATH::beats on compy screen that happens to have Raito's picture on it: DAMN YOU! YOU BLOODY EUNUCH!

:takes in breath: That's… a little better… I guess…

L…

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 29**_

_**Fury**_

Arden smirked as his boss's plan sunk in to my mind. They wanted me for bait to get Illauna, Yasille, Kuvai and Kaiyou? But they thought that Illauna was Kaiyou's trainer? I scoffed. "Why would Illauna come? She's not my Lord's trainer. No one is."

Arden's face fell a fraction. "What are you saying, that the information that Illauna was training him on Mount Silver was wrong? We have seven witnesses."

I glared. "She might have been, but she doesn't own him."

He laughed and then said, "Well, the only person who can OWN a Legendary is Giovanni. He even created one."

It was my turn to smirk. "Yeah, a fine job he did controlling it too."

Arden growled. "Quiet. Giovanni may have underestimated Mewtwo, but not anymore. Once we get Illauna's enlistment, Mewtwo will be easy to recapture, even with that band of clones at his side. Your Dark Lord will prove most useful then."

I lunged at him, but he ducked into the Void before my claws could grab him. He reappeared behind me and chuckled. "You have quite a temper, Miss Ayako." I turned towards him and we began to circle. "However, I do thank you for teaching me of the Void. It makes our missions so much easier, and Giovanni is all the happier for it. He's actually trying to create a permanent portal in this very gym so that anyone at any time can access the Void."

I snarled. "How DARE you misuse it like that! That's the home for all Dark pokemon, and you want to use it as an escape route for your thievery? You don't deserve to be an absol, much less a Dark if you betray your species and race like that! You're nothing but a traitorous cockroach who deserves to rot in a cage for the rest of your damn life!"

Arden growled back at me. "I'm only giving back what I was given! This Kaiyou, your Lord, how good of a Lord is he? Does he answer prayers like the other Lords do? If so, where was he when my parents were poached? Where was he when my brother and I were separated by a tauros stampede? Where was he for all Darks who have prayed unanswered prayers? Tell me, Miss Ayako! How good of a Lord has he been to us?"

I snarled back. "He was killed a long time ago by humans, and only recently was he brought back to life by Team Magma! How can you blame all these things on him when he wasn't there? I'm sorry that happened to you, but you can't pin it on Kaiyou!"

"Shut up!" Arden cried. "You don't know anything!" He charged towards me, but I avoided it by side-stepping to the left. He stumbled, then whirled around back towards me. I was about to charge at him again, when Arden's trainer picked me up and threw me into the trunk not too far away. I landed on the grated bottom and before I could escape, the trunk top was shut and the fluorescent lights went on. I shut my eyes against the blinding light. I understood the lights now. They were supposed to eliminate any shadow so I couldn't escape.

I was trapped.

I kicked and struggled against the top of the trunk, but since I couldn't open my eyes -because of the horribly bright lights- I couldn't really tell which way was up. _(Help!)_ I cried out to my teammates. _(HELP!)_

No answer.

_(Kaiyou! Help me! I'm trapped!)_

Nothing.

"How do you like your little cage, Miss Ayako?" Arden's muffled voice called from the other side of my prison. "I suppose I could let you have a little air hole…" I heard a small scraping sound and tentatively, I opened my eyes. Though the light was still there, I could see a small hole in front of me. I pressed my left eye to it and could see my surroundings without the blinding lights. Arden stood in front of me, smirking. "Better?"

I was about to hit that damn grin with a thunderbolt, but he would probably close the eyehole, so I repressed the urge with some difficulty. I glared at the traitorous absol in front of me. "When my Lord comes, I hope he tears you in two."

Arden scoffed. "IF he comes." He walked away from me and to his trainer, who gave the absol a meat treat. After a few moments of silence, I heard a door open and shut from the high platform beyond my vision. I gulped as my stomach began to churn. Wasn't that chair on that platform… Giovanni's…?

His booming voice echoed throughout the gym. "Ah, Karson and his absol, you have very well. This is the absol that has been in contact with the new Legendaries, yes?"

The trainer, Karson, nodded in reply. "Yes, sir!" he stated as his body stiffened to attention. "That is the absol, there in that trunk!" Instinctively, I growled as Karson gestured to me. "It seems the lighting system worked."

I heard Giovanni chuckle. "Good, we wouldn't want our bait escaping. Our prizes and new trainer should be arriving any minute. Karson, make sure that this room is filled with soldiers. I would hate to have our guests and new help feel unwelcome." Another deep-throated laugh, and then the sound of him sitting down. Karson saluted Giovanni, and ran off to a dark corridor, then disappeared. Arden lay down on the cold cement.

"Having fun in there?" he asked coolly.

I glared. "I'll have fun when I watch Kaiyou rip you and this whole gym apart."

He scoffed and put his head on his paws. Despite his indifferent answer to my threat, I could smell a twinge of fear in his scent. It was my turn to smirk. _Looks like the little rat's getting scared,_ my mind declared.

Suddenly, a different Rocket Grunt burst into the room, sweat and fear dripping from his body. "Sir! Sir, they're here!" We tried to fend them off but… but…"

Anger filled Giovanni's voice. "Incompetent! They're only pokemon; catch them!"

The grunt was about to reply when the thirty-foot gym doors swung open violently to reveal ten silhouettes against the bright light of the afternoon sun. I instantly recognized my Lord, in his true form, his fur bristled and mouth snarling angrily. Beside him was Kuvai, in his pale human form, strangely calm and collected. Behind Kuvai were Yasille, also in her human form, who looked a bit frightened, and Shayla. Illauna was in front of Kuvai by a bit, and behind them were Gruzog, Kazu, Amburna, Shoko, and Tai. My Lord slowly walked into the gym with Kuvai close to his side. Kaiyou's anger flooded out my own emotions and for a second, the hate almost suffocated me. However, it retracted slowly and I could breathe once more.

"My Lord!" I called. I looked to him, but he didn't turn to me. Instead, he turned his grand ebony head towards Arden, whose eyes were as big as saucers and was cowering like a small pup, and his snarl grew. **_(YOU…)_**

Kuvai placed a calm, pale hand on Kaiyou's canine foreleg. "Mind your anger, Kaiyou."

Giovanni, from what I could tell, stood from his throne and bellowed, "Good to see you all! I have been expecting you! Now, Illauna, in return for the safe return of this absol, I wish that you would enlist into Team Rocket. You would automatically rise to the rank of Top Administrator under my command! You and your… intriguing new pokemon would be forever known to all people! You-"

"Shut the hell up," Illauna said tersely. "You know that I'd rather die than join you and your pitiful organization. Just give us the absol and I promise that you won't die."

Giovanni's angry silence penetrated the room, and then, "I'm sorry to hear that. However, I can't leave you to roam around in opposition to our noble cause!" He snapped his fingers and hundreds of Team Rocket trainers flooded into the already crowded room. I saw Kuvai give them all a glare of contempt before Giovanni began to speak again. "Now, my servants! Catch them!"

In a flash of lavender, crimson, and black, all of the poke balls, filled and empty, stopped in midair and were flung back to the arm that threw them. Kazu, Kuvai and Kaiyou were all glowing from the mystical power of their psychic attacks. Kazu ran towards one flank of Rockets, Amburna, Shayla, Tai and Shoko with him. Yasille transformed into her true form and attacked another rear flank, Illauna and Gruzog charged the upper left flank, and my Lord and Kuvai remained in the same place. Kaiyou's fur gave a shudder, and then electricity bounced off of him. I thought it would hit Kuvai, but strangely enough, the blue electricity avoided him.

The thunder built and was released into the bottom part of Giovanni's platform, which crumpled and collapsed. Unfortunately, Giovanni escaped the collapse, and, panting, ran from the scene. I was about to try my luck with the trunk, but a yellow face startled me.

"You okay in there?" Tai asked over the raging sound of battle.

"Yeah, I guess so," was my weak reply. I didn't really want to face the jolteon right now…

I heard a few clicks, scratches and quiet curses as he fumbled with the lock. Eventually, he succeeded and threw the lid open, which caused the fluorescent lights to flicker and die. I jumped out and blinked rapidly to try and adjust my eyes. As I shook myself, I glanced around the already destroyed battlefield. Everyone on our side was winning with ease, and the Rockets were retreating. I glanced to my Lord, still with Kuvai beside him, who was slowly walking to Arden. The absol didn't dare move as Kaiyou approached. The fear and horror was reeking from him, and as I began to walk closer, Tai stopped me.

"What's he going to do?" he asked softly. "Kaiyou, I mean."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't really seen him like this before…"

I turned back to the traitor and watched as my Lord snarled down at him. I heard Kuvai say something inaudible to my ears, and for a moment, Kaiyou's fur went back down a fraction. Still, I could tell that Kaiyou wanted to tear Arden apart. With great effort, he returned to his human form. His shoulders were stiff and his fists were clenched, but still, he refrained from doing anything to Arden.

I trotted a bit closer to them and heard Kuvai say, "You do realize, you do anything to him, you feel it as well." Kaiyou didn't answer him; he just stared down at the mutinous absol at his feet. Without warning, my Lord picked Arden up by the scruff of the neck and hurled the betrayer into the adjacent wall, which was about twelve feet away. Arden hit it so hard that he made a dent in the concrete and fell limply to the floor. The sound of the impact echoed throughout the now deserted gym, and I turned back to Kaiyou, expecting him to be hurting from the pain.

If he was in pain, he didn't show it. He was glaring ferociously at Arden's form, whom was now trying to get back up, and turned to walk towards the door. His golden eyes stopped on me for but a moment, then turned back to the door. I sighed regretfully at his receding back. He was still angry…?

Kuvai's footsteps neared me, and when he stopped in front of me, he whispered, "He's not mad at you. Not anymore, at least." I allowed a half smile to lighten my face, when Tai stepped forward.

"Why did you stay beside him that whole time? You could have gone and defeated some Rockets or something." Kuvai glanced down at the jolteon -who flinched- and replied, "Because if I hadn't, Kaiyou would have killed that absol, an action I know he would later regret. I was merely making sure he didn't do anything too stupid. Though, he will be feeling that throw he inflicted sometime soon." The undead creature sauntered to Yasille, who was apologizing to an unconscious Rocket for attacking him. Tai walked past me towards the doors and stated flatly, "We should go. Shayla's gonna want to see you."

I blinked, then trudged after him. I felt terrible. He must have been so mad at me… This entire mess was completely my fault. _If only I hadn't been so stubborn…_ I looked to the cracked concrete floor in shame. _If only I hadn't been so stupid…_

At that moment, Tai kicked me in the head. As I was about to tear him a new one, he stated somewhat cockily, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You look really stupid when you do."

I studied his face, which held something resembling a smirk, and I deemed it suitable to reply, "'Stupid?' What do you mean by that?"

His face grew coy and light. It was good to see that stupid smirk on him again. "You're face gets all droopy and you walk funny." At that moment, he contorted his face into an exaggerated frown: brow down, and eyes towards the ceiling. I chuckled. He looked like a Neanderthal. Then he began to walk around, dragging one foot at a time, and cried, "Oh, boo hoo! I'm so sad! Oh, waa waa!"

I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him off of his feet playfully. "Jerk!" I cried, "Now I really WILL go and cry!" I pretended to bawl, and then he tackled me. I pushed him off with my back paws and the war was on.

"Children," Amburna called from the doorway, "Please, we've all had a trying day. We need to get back to Evergrand so we won't be late for the next match."

Tai and I -who were tangled together at the moment- pouted and resumed our trek to the door. As I was about to reach it, I heard the echo of a stone falling to the ground. I turned to see Arden trying to stand in the little pile of pebbles he had created. He looked up at me, a strange, unidentifiable expression on his black face. I paused, and Tai paused beside me.

I could tell the jolteon was nervous; in my perrifial vision, I could see his chocolate eyes darting frantically from me to the other absol. But I didn't mind. He didn't have anything to be frantic about. I turned from the door and made my way back to Arden when Tai jumped in my way.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tai half-shouted. "He's-"

"I know," I replied whilst effectively cutting him off in the process. "I just… want to ask him something before we go." At Tai's unsure look, I sighed and gave him a small nuzzle on the cheek. "You have nothing to worry about."

The jolteon now in stunned silence, I closed the gap between Arden and me. The other absol glared up at me, but I didn't care. "You deserve it, you know," I said. "You betrayed not only me, but your Lord, and therefore, your entire race." I let a little air in my words so to let my statement sink in. "However, I… want you to do something for me. Well, for all of us."

Arden's gaze narrowed again. "And what is that?"

I pushed my face centimeters from his. "Never use the Void again. If I ever see your bloody carcass in there one more time, I will hunt you down like the damn bastard you are and finish what Kaiyou couldn't do. He may feel your pain, but I sure as hell don't. And destroy whatever pitiful attempts Giovanni's got for that 'permanent portal' you told me about. Got me?"

Arden's eyes studied my face for a moment, and surprisingly, it fell into a defeated, mellow grin. "It seems I crossed the wrong absol."

Tai's distant voice cried, "Damn straight!" I turned to glare at him, but Arden began to speak again. "Yes, Miss Ayako, I will comply. I… I will try and redeem myself." He looked back up at me with that charismatic smirk I had once fallen for, but it held no effect now. I wanted to see that grin on only one pokemon, and it sure as hell wasn't him. I backed away, my face full of contempt.

"See that you do," I muttered. I turned and headed back towards the door and Tai. As I passed the jolteon, I said happily, "We can go now."

He grinned and trotted along beside me, giving Arden raspberries when he thought I wasn't looking. We reached the threshold and hopped into the portal that would lead us back to Evergrand and the Hoenn League. And as Tai and I passed through the Void, I couldn't help but giggle as he tried to be calm when he was near to pissing all over himself from fear. It was good to be home.

………………

Yay! I wrote this in two days! Doesn't it delight you?

Oh yes, and an explanation for the earlier authoress note: Raito is a eunuch. He really is. Go back through the manga with that in mind and everything about him will make sense.

Ja!


	30. An Almost Confession

Well, howdy. Sorry I haven't written in 6 months, but I fell out of pokemon for a time. Drakengard 2 and Kingdom Hearts 2 demanded my attention for a good long while, but now I'm back. Huzzah. I started playing Pokemon XD about three days ago and, once again, was hypnotized by its strange addictiveness. I don't know why, but all of my spare time was devoted to playing XD. It was kinda strange. Even now, though I have finished the game -kinda-, I have a need to pummel people with my pokemon. The obsession has started again.

Anywho, the fic.

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 30**_

_**An Almost Confession**_

**"AND MISS KYRESON WINS AGAIN! This is her fourth win, folks! There's only two more: the semi-finals and the finals! And with her arsenal of powerful pokemon, there's no doubt in my mind that she'll make it! What wonderful battles!"**

Tai strode around the battlefield triumphantly. His last opponent, a flygon, lay unconscious beside the gloating jolteon. Tai had won by using a series of bite and extremespeed attacks whilst trying to avoid the many earthquakes the flygon had released. Though a couple did manage to hit the jolteon, Tai somehow managed to win. I had been watching the battle from the podium with Shayla, just in case that Tai needed rescuing. As we, being Tai, Shayla and I, made our way to the lobby, Illauna, human Kuvai, Kaiyou and Yasille joined us, Yasille's and Kaiyou's faces beaming with pride. Kuvai, on the other hand, didn't really show any expression.

It had been a week since the whole Arden ordeal, and everything and everyone were back to the way they used to be. Kazu was happy, Kaiyou was happy, Tai was stupid, Amburna seemed happy, Yasille liked to smell the flowers, Illauna glared at everyone and Kuvai was enigmatic and creepy as always. Kiya, the aggron, had a bit of trouble in the last battle, so she was back in Pallet town, and Shoko replaced her. Though he couldn't be used in a League battle, he could still be in the team.

Yasille took Shayla's hand with both of hers and nearly took off my trainer's arm from what could be called shaking it up and down enthusiastically. "Wow, that battle was MAGNIFICENT!" she cried as she continued to vigorously yank Shayla's arm up and down. "I never thought a jolteon could battle that way!" As Tai's pride bubble began to inflate, she paused and turned to said jolteon. "Wait… so I should be congratulating you…" Shayla took the slight pause in Yasille's ever wavering attention span to reclaim her sore arm.

I waved off the sentence with my paw. "Don't. His psyche's already as big as this room. It doesn't need further encouragement."

Tai gave me a stale look. "If she wants to give congratulations to me, then she should. There's nothing wrong with that."

I cocked an eyebrow and then scooted a foot away from Tai. "Fine then, just let me make room for your ego."

"Now, now, kids, let's be nice," Kaiyou said as he held up his hands in front of him trying to placate us, "This isn't a place for bickering."

Kuvai half-glared at my Lord and replied, "You, of all people, couldn't have just said that. That sentence just made you the biggest hypocrite known to this world." Kaiyou glared at the undead creature, but didn't respond. Kuvai let a sarcastic smirk dawn onto his pale face. "What, no comeback?"

My trainer put a sore hand between the two. "Now come on, guys, enough of that. The next round doesn't start until tomorrow for sure, so we have the rest of the day to ourselves. What do we want to do?"

Tai bounced up and down and cried, "Let's go eat! I'm starving!"

I hit him on the back of the head with my paw. "You're always starving."

My Lord snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "Why don't we-"

Before Kaiyou could finish his sentence, Kuvai clamped a pale hand over my Lord's mouth. "Before you share this idea with us," the undead creature began slowly, "think it over. Would we deem it appropriate? Better yet, is it breaking any laws?"

Kaiyou pushed his friend's hand away from his mouth. "Kuvai, please. Why would any of my ideas involve breaking stupid laws that are obsolete in the first place?" Kuvai's answer was a stale glare. "Besides, like I said, those laws that I may have 'broken' in the past were all ridiculous. They were begging to be disobeyed."

Kuvai's glare didn't waver. "You wrote 'Buganti hearts Yasille' in bright red paint on my cave."

At first, Kaiyou began to protest, but a light of recognition alighted in his eyes. "Oh yeah…" He began to laugh and Kuvai promptly slapped my Lord upside the head. "Ow!"

Shayla sighed. "I guess we should just head back to the hotel room, then. If no one can think of a way to kill time until the next battle results are in."

"No, listen!" Kaiyou said as he grabbed my trainer's arm. "I really do have an idea!" Then, he turned his head towards Kuvai and added with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, "and NO, it isn't breaking any laws." He paused for a bit. "I think."

"Well, what is it?" Shayla asked.

Kaiyou's smile grew even larger. "There's a carnival in Pallet right now, and I think we should go. We could travel through the Void and be back here in time for supper. Plus, small town carnivals are always really fun; Yasille and I used to sneak into them when we were younger."

Shayla smacked her forehead. "Of course! The annual Fall Harvest festival! I completely forgot about it!"

At this, my Lord cocked his head and let his hand fall from Shayla's arm. "…You… know what I'm talking about?"

Shayla grinned and began to laugh. "Of course; I grew up in Pallet! Let's go, let's go!" She ran out of the lobby and into the streets, leaving the rest of us to eat her dust. Kuvai sighed, defeated, and ran a pale hand through his matted black hair.

"Well, I guess a carnival could be entertaining. Lead on, Kaiyou." My Lord nodded in return and ran after my trainer, transforming into his true form as he did. Tai and I followed, then Illauna, and behind her were Yasille and Kuvai, the both of them transforming into their pokemon forms as well. Without a care as to who saw us, Kaiyou opened a portal and we all rushed inside and out into Pallet Town's busy square.

I took a look around me; the trees were friendly and turning with their fall colors, the sea crashed against the beach happily, the sun warmed the grass and sky gently… I sucked in a breath of fresh, clean country air. I could really like this place. Tai bumped against my side. "Come on, Xena!" he shouted happily. "The party's over there!"

He ran off in the direction of the middle of the town, where various game booths were placed, carousel rides spun around and a large, blinking Ferris wheel lethargically rotated. I ran after him and caught up with the others. Shayla had let everyone out and were out meandering among the many game booths, one of which Shoko and Amburna were playing a game of bulls-eye. Unfortunately for the game's vendor, he didn't prepare the little structure for the might of Shoko's flamethrower. A few yards ahead of me, Tai ran up to Kazu and tackled him, earning a grunt from the espeon.

"Hey, Kazu," I heard Tai ask as I came closer to the two. "Wanna go see Mom?"

Kazu's eyes sparkled. "Oh, yeah! You think she's in her usual place?"

Tai let a smirk grow. "Of course. Come on, let's go and get her!" Tai got off of Kazu and they began to dash towards the outskirts of the town when Tai saw me in the corner of his eye. "You wanna come, Xena? I'm sure she'd like to meet you. She's really nice!"

I nodded slowly and trotted after them. They made their way to a large hill overlooking the town and its festivities, where a few scattered trees and thick bushes dotted the slopes. In the distance behind the hill was a medium-sized house with white walls, pale red roof and a large oak in the front- a friendly, welcoming home, though it was the only one located behind the hill. I assumed that said house belonged to Shayla and her family, since the Eevee brothers' mother seemed to haunt the lone hilltop.

We crouched behind a throng of trees behind a vaporeon. From what I could see of her, her back fringe was scathed and her head fin had cuts and gashes in it. Her tail had a massive tear marring its otherwise beautiful color, which probably limited her swimming skills. We were to her southwest, so whenever she turned her head, I could see a little of her face: weary and alone. She looked so sad…

Tai nudged me and asked in a soft whisper, "That's our mom. What do you think?"

Hesitating for a moment, I tried to put it as nicely as I could. "She looks… sad…"

Kazu's face fell a bit. "She's always been like that ever since Dad died. But maybe our little visit will cheer her up." He looked to his older brother and when their eyes met, they nodded simultaneously. Confused, I merely sat back on my haunches and watched. What were they going to do?

As if by silent countdown, the two rushed out at the same time from behind the trees and pounced on the elderly vaporeon, earning a yelp of surprise from her. I almost ran out to help her, but I heard low, feminine laughter after a moment. I stayed in the shadows, nervous, and watched as sons and mother were reunited.

She stood slowly as the two brothers licked her face. "Oh, boys! When did… Why are you here? I thought you were all in Evergrand…" She turned to Tai and licked him, and said proudly, "You beat that flygon magnificently, son. I was worried, but you did pull through…" She then turned to Kazu and licked his face and asked, "Who are those new pokemon? I've never met the absol, much less seen the big black one before."

Tai beamed at his mother. "Well, the absol's right over there, Mom." He nodded in my direction, to which I flinched, and his mother's expression softened. "Her name's…" he paused for a moment, "well, she has lots of names, but I call her Xena because she's a Warrior Princess and she kicks lots of people's butts. Everyone else calls her 'Demi' or 'Ayako'."

His mother cocked her head slightly and called, "Well, don't be shy. I don't bite."

Tai leaned over to Kazu's ear and snickered, "Yeah, when she's asleep, maybe." The two laughed a little more and their mother promptly slapped them with her scarred tail.

I smiled and slowly walked to the old vaporeon, nervous under her motherly, scrutinizing gaze. When I was only about a foot away, she cleared the rest of the distance. "Well, Miss Ayako," she began softly, "I hope my boy hasn't irritated you too much. He seems to have that effect on pokemon." Tai gave a little indignant snort, but his mother -nor I, for that matter- paid attention to it.

"No, actually," I replied. "He's not that bad once you know where to hit him."

She chuckled softly as Tai's fur began to turn into spikes. "I'm standing right here, you know…" he growled out. His mother waved off his warning with her paw.

"Yes, we're aware, Honey…" She looked me over a couple of times and then smiled. "Yes, very good. You will do nicely."

After a few moments of me blinking awkwardly, I cleared my throat and asked, "Um… I'll… do nicely for what…?" But she didn't answer; only smiled. She stood slowly from her sitting position and went back to the peak of the hilltop.

"Now, what are you all doing back here?" she asked as she gazed over the festivities below. "Weren't you in Evergrand just now?"

Tai smiled as he walked up to his mother and gently knocked her with his shoulder. "Cool, isn't it? We came here through this thing called the 'Void'. It's really creepy the first few times when you go in there, but after that, all of the funky purpley black things aren't that bad."

His mother looked him over as if he were clinically insane. "What are you talking about?"

Kazu took a step forward. "It's the center of Darkness, where all the shadows link together. It's… a little hard to explain, but Dark pokemon can access it from any shadow and transport themselves to any other shadow that they wish. That's how we got here so fast."

Their mother's eyes widened and turned to me. "And you can access it too?"

"Um…" I stuttered, "Yeah, I can." Her cerulean eyes smiled at me; apparently, my ability to enter the Void pleased her. Any Dark could do it, why was it so special in her eyes?

Tai bounced beside his mother. "You're damn straight she can!" At his cursing, his mother smacked him hard on the back of the head. After yelping, he cried indignantly, "What was that for?"

The jolteon sank back on his haunches as his mother growled and snarled. "Don't you use that language around me! You may be a Pokemon League Champion, but you are still my son and you will NOT use that foul, vulgar language around your mother! You understand me?" At her son's immediate and very enthusiastic nodding, she slowly lay back down. "My own son, cursing like a sailor's pokemon…"

Tai shook off the pain and jumped excitedly. "Hey Mom! You know that big black pokemon you were asking about?" At this, she turned her head, intrigued. "He's really the Dark Legendary."

His mother's eyes widened in shock, but to my own surprise, in fear as well. "…What…?"

However, being the oblivious jolteon that he was, Tai didn't notice the twinge of fear in his mother's turquoise eyes. "Yeah! I thought he was a douche bag at first, but he turned out to be all right." He paused for a moment as he looked up to the dusk sky in thought. "It IS kind of a bad thing that he looks so much like an umbreon… but oh well." He then looked at his mother, who was shaking violently. "Mom?" he asked softly.

I took a step forward. "What's wrong?"

The Eevee brothers' mother shook her head and backed away from her sons and me a few feet. "I…" she began, her voice a quivering whisper, "I'm… all right… I just… need some water." She looked at all of us, a silent apology in her eyes, and trotted towards the house in the distance behind us. Kazu turned towards me, as confused as Tai and I were.

"I'm sorry, Ayako…" he began slowly, "I… really don't know what that was about. Let me go and try to calm her down." I nodded and the espeon ran after the now fading blue vaporeon. Tai turned to me, embarrassment written all over his yellow face.

"I'm… sorry…" he stated, his eyes looking now at the ever-interesting ground.

I turned my head back to Kazu's fading form. "What's wrong with her?"

Tai clawed the lush green grass, subdued. "She… heard about what had happened to Kazu… and knew it was because of Kaiyou. She didn't take it too well." He looked back up to me, his chocolate brown eyes full of sorrow. Had the situation not been so serious, I would have laughed since the expression was so out of character. "Sorry…"

I tried to smile. "What are you sorry for? She has good reason to be scared of him, especially since she doesn't know him." Tai cocked his head, the sorrow almost completely gone and replaced with confusion.

"But…"

I walked towards his mother's spot on the hilltop. "Don't worry about it, Tai," I stated calmly. "It's okay. I'm used to it by now."

As I turned back to Tai, his face fell again, this time his ears drooped as well. "But you shouldn't have to be…" he replied, his voice so soft I could barely hear it. "You shouldn't have to be used to it…"

As I stared at him, I had never found him -or any other pokemon for that matter- as… to put it bluntly… adorable. His head was hung, his big, yellow Dumbo ears were drooping to his sides, and his big, brown, puppy dog eyes were off to the side, afraid to make contact with my own. He looked like one of the abandoned puppies one sees on TV commercials. I sighed as I made my way back to him.

"It's not your fault, Tai," I consoled as I nudged my head into his. "It's not like you treat me like that. And besides, your mom has a very good-"

"NO!" Tai barked. I took a couple of steps away, shocked. "NO! He's your LORD! Aren't you mad that pokemon look down upon your god when they revere all the other ones, even though they may not worship them?" He began to pace, while I could only stand there in a stunned stupor. What had gotten into him? "Everyone reveres Lugia and, and Mew!" he continued. "Even though the pokemon might not be a Psychic, they would still bow if they ran into them! Or, or, if Suicune or Entei, or Raquayza came! The regular pokemon might not be the same type as the god, but they would still pay respect! But not to yours! Pokemon, outside of the Darks, don't revere him, they fear and hate him!"

I reached out with my paw to try and calm him down. "Tai…"

"I've even done it!" he cried, his fury blocking all other trains of thought. "I've looked down on Darklings, and I did when I first met you! I did it with Kaiyou and that stupid Easter Egg umbreon-"

"Eclipse," I corrected.

"WHATEVER!" he screamed as he turned to face me. "It doesn't matter what the hell his stupid name is, the fact remains that I still hate him for what he is! An Umbreon! A Dark! I'm as prejudiced as all the other assholes out there, and I only just now realized it when Mom got so bloody scared by the mere mention of Kaiyou's name!" He sighed and plopped down on the grass facing the carnival below. "Have I always been this oblivious…?"

I couldn't help but feel a little bad for him, but I was still confused as to how he was so worked up. I saw no problem in his mother being scared of Kaiyou; he did -albeit accidentally- almost kill one of her sons. I bore no grudge against her, or Tai for that matter. But was that because I was already jaded against it? Heaving a weary sigh myself, I sat next to him on the lush grass.

"Tai…" I began slowly, "You've always been oblivious."

He glared at me from the corner of his eyes. "You know, surprisingly enough, that doesn't help me."

I chuckled. "I know, but let me finish. You're oblivious because, for one thing, you're a guy. That's just a part of you. Secondly, I know that… well…" I sighed as I tried to put it into the right words. Usually, it wasn't that difficult, but with Tai, it was a bit more challenging. "You just… don't pay attention to detail. And that's fine."

Tai sighed and dropped his head down on his paws. "I'm an asshole."

I nudged his side with my snout. "Not as often as you think you are."

"Thanks," he replied as he glared back at me. "You've been real uplifting."

Frowning, I hit him lightly with my black paw. "I still don't understand where this came from. So you're mom's scared of Kaiyou. Big freaking whoop. He DID almost kill Kazu, or did you forget about that?" He glared down at the festivities below. "I don't hold a grudge against her, and neither should you. What's wrong with you, all of a sudden?"

He heaved a sigh, and then muttered something incoherent under his breath. Before I could ask him to repeat that at an audible volume, he sat up and sighed again. "I… don't know… It's just that… It… ticked me off when she did that…"

I cocked my head. There was seriously something wrong with this jolteon. "Why?"

"I don't know!" he barked. He stood back up and began to pace again. "I… I just don't know! Ever since that Arson absol-"

"Arden," I interjected automatically.

"-Arden absol screwed you over, I've just been… really irritable when it comes to you." He paused as I tried to mentally interpret what he had just said. "I mean… The way he just completely threw you to Team Rocket… and I wasn't there…" his voice softened at that, "…It just made me so mad! I just… can't stand it whenever someone treats you badly…"

My head cocked a little more to the side. Since when was he protective of me?

"And since I can't figure out why I get so pissed off, it pisses me off even more! And then, I get even pissier and pissier, and it's just this giant, evil death cycle of pissiness!" He collapsed, defeated, back onto the lush green grass. "I've talked to Kazu about it, but it didn't really help. He didn't say anything to help me figure out what the hell is wrong." A pause, and then he added, "Well, he mentioned one possibility… but… I don't think it's possible."

I looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me. He didn't have the gift of gab, in fact, his communication skills sucked. Kazu's apparent solution had tipped Tai off of the edge of his mental balance, which meant it was probably right. But why wouldn't he tell me what it was? Was it really that bad? I slowly went to his side and asked softly, "Well? What was it? What did Kazu suggest?"

He took in a deep, long breath to ready himself. "He thinks… I think… that I'm… in lo-"

"HEY, GUYS!" Shoko roared overhead, "HOW'S IT GOIN'!"

As I looked up Tai's fur began to bristle and spike threateningly. "Do you mind, Ass-face!" the jolteon cried as Shoko began to land a yard away. "Or do you not understand the concept of 'privacy'?"

The charizard giggled happily as he swayed dangerously on his hindquarters. "Aww, are you two having a little moment?" He hicked and giggled again, and then almost fell over. I trotted over to him, curious as to what the hell was wrong with him.

"Shoko…?" I asked tentatively, "Why are you… like this?"

Tai narrowed his gaze into a glare. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

I turned back to the charizard in surprise. "What?" I asked, incredulous. "But how?"

"Pff!" Shoko replied, "Nonsense! I -hic- I'm n-not DRUNK! I just found this barrel full of funny tasting water… I was really thirsty, and the game vendor told me that I couldn't drink out of the ponyta trough… and I found the barrel…" Tai and I exchanged glances. "At first I really didn't -hic- like it, but then, I was -hic- I was just like, 'This stuff is great!' and I started flying -hic- around and a pidgeotto was very rude to me, and then I saw you guys and I was -hic- like, 'HEY GUYS! HOW'S IT GOIN'?' And you were very rude -hic- Tai, and then-"

"All right, Shoko, we get it…" Tai grumbled. "Now, were there any markings on this barrel or 'water'?"

Shoko paused as he thought on this. "Yeah… -hic- There was this name on it… -hic- Somethin' like 'Jackie Daniel' or… or somethin'… I -hic- didn't really think it meant anythin', so I -hic- drank it." Suddenly, his eyes got wide and his head darted around. "I hope -hic- that a human named Jackie Daniel doesn't -hic- exist, because it might be his water! Hic!"

Sighing, I sat on the grass beneath me. Shoko had drunk an entire barrel full of Jack Daniels beer? Wonderful. Tai came to the inebriated charizard's side and said, "Fortunately for you, he's dead. I think. Now why don't you go and pass out in the back yard? Come on, I'll lead you there and make sure you don't fall on your ass or something. Mom can sober you up real nice."

As Tai led Shoko away, the charizard protested, "But… but I'm not drunk! Hic!"

I sighed as I watched the two staggered into the distance towards the house. What was Tai about to tell me? I shrugged off the thought and trotted back to the carnival. Whatever it was, he could tell me after Shoko wasn't a stinking drunk anymore. _Besides_, I thought, _It couldn't have been that important. This is Tai; he's probably just upset about some random pokemon I locked eyes with or something._ I snickered at the thought. _No, it couldn't be that important at all._

…………

WOW! I finished… and… DUN DUN DUN DUN! IT SUCKS! YAAAAAY! BEHOLD MY CAPS LOCK!

Yeah… I haven't gotten back into the swing of first person yet… I've been writing my Drakengard fic in omnipotent third, and it's much, much different than first. My GOD, how it is different. I already had some stuff on this chapter before I started revising it, and to tell you the truth, it sucks even more hardcore than this version. But I didn't want to keep it from you guys when you've been waiting for six bloody months. I'm not that evil. Well, hopefully, the next chapter will be more fulfilling.

Ja!


	31. Alleviated Fears

I had no idea playing my pokemon Emerald game would get me back into the swing of things. I love it. I've been obsessed with winning the master ranks of the contests and getting that painter guy to submit his work to the art gallery. I wanted to know what you got once you got all of the categories: a crystal sculpture of the bird thingies in the museum. It's nice-looking. In case you wanted to know, my pokemon were:

Smart: Umbreon with shadow ball, faint attack, tail whip and confuse ray

Cool: Scizor with quick attack, cut, aerial ace and fury cutter

Beauty: Milotic with surf, waterfall, hydro pump and rain dance

Cute: Delcatty with growl, faint attack, assist and covet

Tough: Feraligator with surf, rain dance, waterfall and bite.

So yeah… I don't really know what to do now except to raise my modest-natured jolteon and try to breed a good absol.

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 31**_

_**Alleviated Fears**_

The festival had ended and I made my way to the house that Tai had led the rather inebriated Shoko to sober up. I was walking slowly; I wanted to take in the beautiful sunset the clean country sky was giving me. It soothed me; I suppose it reminded me of the sunsets back home. I paused at the thought of my family's hovel hidden away in the underbrush. I hadn't thought about them for so long… Were they even okay after the Anubo incedent? Guilt racked my mind as I thought of all of the things that could have happened to them in my absence. They could have been captured or killed and I hadn't thought of them in weeks…

"You don't get to see scenery like this out in the city," I heard Kaiyou's voice say from behind me. "A pity; maybe humans would be better off with a nice view to take their minds off of their menial lives and duties." I turned to look at him with a quirked brow. He smiled back at me and casually walked to my side. "Something troubling you?"

I looked back down to the lush grass beneath me. "My family… I don't know if they're okay…" He cocked his head and I continued. "I mean, they could have been killed by Anubo and I haven't even thought about them since before Saji died!" I looked up to him for some kind of support, but he just had a half-frown on his face.

"You shouldn't worry about them," he began nonchalantly, "they're all right." I blinked at the sheer bluntness of his answer. "They were competent enough to stay away from Anubo's path. After all, he didn't destroy EVERYTHING; he mostly stayed near the cities to inflict the most damage upon the humans. But the paths and routes that are out of the way of human civilization should still be intact." At my suspicious stare, he added, "I can tell from the Pattern -their lines are still there, as strong as yours."

My face copied his half-frown. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "You never asked."

I sighed and he bent down to pet my white coat. "Now, I came over here to ask you something." I cocked my head and he continued. "I saw you and Tai up on the hill together." At this I blushed. "Is there something I need to know?" he asked with a smirk starting to spread across his face.

I glared. "No. At least, not what you're thinking." The smirk faded and I continued. "I met Kazu and Tai's mom, and as we were telling her about all the stuff that's been going on, Tai mentioned you and she, to put it bluntly, got scared." His eyes grew a little concerned and I looked back at the house. "She heard what happened to Kazu when you first awoke -how your aura nearly killed him."

He erected from the bow he had been in and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh yeah… I remember that."

I nodded. "Right… so when she went back to the house, Kazu followed her and then Tai…" I paused as I struggled for the right words to use to describe his behavior, "…went nuts."

"He's already nuts," Kaiyou said as he turned away from me to overlook our surroundings again.

"I know," I replied wearily, "but this was more nuts than usual. He started making this speech on how I should be more mad at pokemon who don't respect you or something and something else about how he couldn't stand it when other pokemon did that and…" I shook my head. "It was insane. I've never seen him talk so passionately before."

Kaiyou sighed. "Well, it seems to me he has a soft spot for you, and even something like his mom being scared of me would make him angry because I am linked to you." At my confused expression, he continued. "He doesn't want anyone -even his own mother- to look down on me, because to him, that means that they would look down upon you."

"But why now, all of a sudden?" I asked. He shrugged again.

"I don't know… Maybe he's had enough of it or something." I looked back down to the grass, wondering. Could that be it? Tai wants his mom to respect Kaiyou so she'd respect me? I frowned. By the way she greeted me, it seemed to me that she already liked me. I growled to vent my frustration. Leave it to Tai to be stupid like that.

"Brother!" Yasille called from a good thirty feet behind us. She was struggling to run in her obi and kimono, but she was pulling it off nonetheless. In her arms, she held a large, turquoise phanpy doll that she won during the festival. "Brother, over here!"

Kaiyou waved at his sister and turned back to me. "Well, whatever the case is, I'm sure he'll get over it. He isn't one to let his mind roam over something for a long time unless it deals with something edible." As Yasille caught up with us, he and I began to walk slowly up to the house. "In the meantime, I would like to settle the fears of this vaporeon; I've kind of wanted to meet her for a little while now."

As we approached the house, I heard both human and pokemon laughter. We came past the lone oak tree to see Shoko in a small kiddie pool that was much too small for his hulking bulk with the Eevee brothers' mother and whom I presumed to be Shayla's mother spraying him with water. Shoko, in all his drunken fury, cried out at them to stop, but they wouldn't relent. Yasille's face brightened and put her phanpy doll into her brother's arms as she almost skipped to the mothers.

"May I help?" she asked excitedly. "It looks like fun!"

The human woman smiled and said with a chuckle in her voice, "Sure, Missy. Go ahead." She handed Yasille the water hose she was using and the Light Wolf began to spray the poor charizard. She pushed her thumb against the flow of water, making the stream almost burst out of the hose in a high-pressured spray. I chuckled; Yasille sure was easy to entertain.

As the Eevee brothers' mother laughed at Yasille's antics, she looked over in our direction, giving me a warm smile when she locked eyes with me, and then pausing as her eyes went to Kaiyou. It seemed to me that she didn't know who he was at first, since she gave him a smile as well. Kaiyou sighed and put Yasille's prize down beside me and calmly walked over to the elderly vaporeon. As I suspected, her smile faded as he drew closer and she realized who he was.

Before she could turn and bolt back into the house, he put a hand on her fringe. "I want to talk to you, if you will allow me, Miss. I feel like we have a few things to discuss."

The vaporeon lashed out instinctively, her maw latching onto Kaiyou's right forearm. He and I flinched, but he kept his hand where it was. Her sky blue fur was bristled and her tail was up, but despite all of the signs to my Lord to back away from her, he didn't. He merely stayed right where he was, keeping his hand on her frilled head. After a few tense moments of the two standing perfectly still, the vaporeon's grip on his arm relented slowly. He smiled, patted her marred head gently and led her to the small garden on the west side of the house. I sighed, somewhat relieved. Now that Kaiyou could talk to her, maybe he could alleviate her fears.

After Yasille's enthusiastic spraying had sobered Shoko, Shayla's parents invited us to dinner, which we happily accepted. Shayla's mother reminded me of the Eevee brothers' mother: elderly, weary and missing her young. Though Shayla's mother didn't really show it, I knew she missed her daughter. Shayla's father looked a lot like her uncle -jovial, light-hearted, a nice fellow and a good father. The atmosphere of their home was so comfortable I almost forgot that we were due for the semi-finals in the morning.

When I had finished my dinner, I meandered around the house, spying hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles featuring Shayla and her pokemon. Most of them had Shoko and Tai happily sitting beside her. I almost giggled at one of the earliest articles -something about Shayla stopping Team Rocket's plan at Mount Moon- and how Tai looked so young. Shoko was still just a newly evolved charmeleon. I also spied a sandshrew, a spearow, a mankey and a nidorino standing by their trainer. So that was Shayla's team back in Kanto?

I moved on to another article; this one only featured Tai with his face covered in white stuff. Curious, I read the headline: _"Local Trainer's Pokemon Wins Pie-Eating Contest."_ I snickered and read on:

_"At this year's recent Pie-Eating Contest held in Vermillion City, the thirty-three contestants all lined up for the starting gun to begin their frantic gestation of pies when Shayla Kyreson, a trainer from a small hamlet called Pallet Town, and her jolteon named 'Tai' stepped forward. At first, the judges began to take the trainer and the jolteon away, but as soon as the pies were uncovered, the jolteon sprang forth and ate every single pie for the competition. Since no human contestant had the chance to eat a pie, the jolteon was declared the winner by default for eating all 347 pies."_

I cracked up laughing, unable to control myself. I knew Tai was a glutton, but 347 pies? It was ridiculous! It seemed that Tai really did have a swirling abyss for a stomach. As I was trying to tone down my laughter, Kazu made his way to my side.

"I remember that," he commented nostalgically, "He was on the news, too. Mom almost passed out from laughing too much. It was the first time I had seen her like that since Dad died…" He turned to me, a small smile on his face. "During the interview the press had with Shayla about half an hour after Tai won, he asked her if Tai was going to throw up or something. She just pointed over to Tai and he was licking the pie plates. It was redonkulous."

I glanced at him with my brow quirked. " 'Redonkulous'?" I repeated. Kazu blushed a little and nodded.

"Yeah… It's an inside joke between Tai and me. He once mispronounced 'ridiculous' and that's what came out. Redonkulous."

Shaking my head, I replied, "That _word_ is redonkulous."

He laughed and agreed. "Yeah, it is…" For a moment, we sat there looking at the old articles with Shayla's young smiling face highlighting the page. Then, Kazu turned to me, a small amount of discomfort etched onto his purple face.

"…Ayako," he began softly, "I'm sorry about our mom. I hope she didn't offend you."

I shrugged; he had nothing to worry about. Maybe he wouldn't freak out like Tai did. "There's nothing to apologize about. I wasn't offended at all. She has good reason to be scared of him; she almost lost you because of his aura. Besides, Kaiyou's talking to her right now. I'm sure he'll clear everything up."

His shoulders sagged as he replied, "Yeah, I suppose you're right… But I still can't help but feel a little guilty." He looked back up at me, his lavender eyes sparkling in the dim light. "But I'll get over it, I guess."

I sighed in relief. "Well, at least you're taking this a lot better than Tai."

"What?" he asked, a bit of concern on his face.

Sighing yet again, I continued. "Well, when you left to follow your mom, Tai blew up into this huge monologue of pokemon not respecting me or Kaiyou and that pissed him off somehow, and…" I shook my head in exasperation. "And I don't know why he did it, but I think he's still angry…" I looked up at the espeon, whose composure had deteriorated a bit. At this, I cocked my head suspiciously as I proceeded. "Which reminds me, Tai said that you had suggested something that might be the cause of all the problems he's having, but he didn't get a chance to tell me. What did you say?"

Kazu's eyes darted around frantically as if an answer would pop up from the ground. "Um, uh… Well, Ayako, I really don't think I should be the one to tell you…"

I frowned. "Why not? You're the one that suggested it, right? Why can't you tell me?"

"Well, uh…" the espeon stammered as he tried to think of something, "It's just… Well, once Tai tells you, you'll understand. You really shouldn't hear this from me." As I was about to make him tell me, he stood and turned to leave. "But I really should be going. I need to talk with Amburna about… something." Before I could stop him, he trotted off, apparently happy to be ending our conversation.

Sighing, I made my way back outside. Maybe Kaiyou was done talking with Kazu and Tai's mom. I spotted them soon enough; they were on the west side of the house. Kaiyou was standing with his left hand in his pocket and his right on the vaporeon, and said vaporeon was sitting on a tree stump, her scarred tail wagging slowly. I smiled. It seemed that Kaiyou really did alleviate her fears of him. As I approached, my Lord turned to me. "Ah, Ayako. I thought you were there. Come here."

I trotted happily to his free side, purring pleasantly when he patted my scythe. "Auriella," Kaiyou began, turning to the Eevee brothers' mother, "I suppose you've met this absol, Ayako?" Auriella looked up to my Lord and smiled.

"Yes, we met on the hilltop. My sons introduced her to me." She turned her calm, motherly gaze to me and her smile grew. "I think she'll do nicely, don't you?"

Confused, I looked back up to Kaiyou, who had his trademark smirk on full. What the hell was she talking about? "Yes," he replied softly, "she will."

Frustrated with the rather enigmatic conversation that focused on me, I nipped lightly at my Lord's hand. "What are you talking about? What will I do nicely for? Tell me!"

Kaiyou simply chuckled and began to transform into his true form. **_(You'll find out in time, girl. But for now, I think it best that you stay in the dark.)_** He took a lingering glance at us and began to trot out to the sparkling sea below us. **_(As for me, I think a little swim is in order. Goodnight.)_** As his colossal black and gold form became a mere dot to my eyes, I turned to Auriella.

"So?" I began carefully, "Are you still scared of him?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "Who could be?" She hopped off of her stump and stretched. "He apologized for what happened to my boy, and then explained everything that has happened so far." She carefully lay down on the soft grass and licked her paws. "I never knew he would be so nice."

Now content with the world, I lay down beside her. "Auriella…" I said slowly, "…That's a very pretty name. Tai and Kazu never told me what your name was."

Her head went up to the clouds as the smile she had grew. "Well, I suppose they never saw any reason to. But thank you for the compliment. Emily -that's Shayla's mother- gave it to me when George -her mate- got me for their fifth wedding anniversary. I was just an eevee then, but it didn't take long for Emily to buy the three different evolution jewels in case I did want to evolve. My choice is obvious…" she looked back to me, "…but since they had a thunder jewel and flame jewel left, they went ahead and got a companion for me."

"Your mate," I interjected, to which she nodded.

A shadow entered her eyes. "Yes… Devan and I… He chose the flame jewel and when Tai was born, Shayla took it, just in case. After… the umbreon…" she had a little trouble saying it, "…Shayla turned ten and got her pokemon license and Shoko. She left with Tai as well, since he wanted to, and I quote, 'kick some schmucky butt'. She would have taken Kazu as well, but he was too young and frail for a life on the road then." The shadow lightened a bit. "It was lonely with only Kazu by my side, but then Emily and George wanted to give him to Shayla when she first arrived in Jhoto. He evolved into an espeon soon after."

"…You've been alone all this time?" I asked uncertainly. She turned away from me and back to the glistening sea.

"Not really," she replied. "Emily and George are fine company, and of course, there are all of Shayla's pokemon over at the Oak man's laboratory. The houndoom, Lahami, usually makes time for me a few times a week. And without the boys, I can have a bit of peace and quiet. It's not so bad… though I could use a nice visit from my boys more often."

"Be careful what you wish for," I warned cheerfully as the sun dipped below the trees. I sat back onto my haunches and stretched; this really was a sleepy town. It was barely dusk and I was already tired. I glanced back at the crimson and orange ocean to see a small black dot splashing around on the beach. Trying to convince myself that the little black dot that bore a striking resemblance to a dog wasn't my Lord, I stood and stretched again. "Speaking of which, where IS Tai? I haven't seen him since he escorted Shoko to get sober."

Auriella "hmm"ed and sat up as well. "I'm not sure. But you might want to check his little 'secret base' he used to hide in when he was younger." At my suspicious stare, she snickered and added, "He might be upset over something to be in there, though. The 'base' is on the other side of the house, at the bottom of the foundation. There's a small hole leading to a pocket of space -that's the 'base'."

I thanked her and trotted off to the other side of the house to find the jolteon. Why would he be upset? Was it still because of his mother's reaction? Well if it was, then I would be able to set him straight. His mother no longer feared Kaiyou; that should put everything back to normal. He would be his stupid old self again and we could focus on the remaining two battles for the Hoenn Championship.

It took me a few turns of the house to finally find the hole; it was tucked away behind a brush of some kind, and was hidden even more by the house's shadow. The hole itself wasn't that big and it looked as if Tai had a little problem getting into it. After all, a jolteon is a bit bigger than a little eevee pup. However laughable Tai's struggle might have been to fit into the pocket, I probably couldn't fit at all. I was a foot taller and weighed almost twice as much as him. Frowning at my predicament, I clawed at the entrance a little to see if I could possibly widen the hole. Unfortunately, the dirt was only about a centimeter thick and under it was solid bedrock. I couldn't dig.

Finally, I lowered my head to the hole and tried to see inside. Though my eyes couldn't pierce the thick dark, I could smell the jolteon well. He was in there, all right. "Tai," I began softly, "you need to come out."

There was a slight pause, and then his voice replied, "Why? I'm fine right here."

I scoffed. "Tai, don't make me come in there. I want to talk to you."

"We're talking right now, aren't we?" he responded sarcastically. My scowl deepened; he sounded like a human teenager in a temper tantrum.

"Tai, stop the crap and come up," I demanded harshly. "I'm not in the mood for this right now. You've been weird around me for a while now, and I want to know why. Now, you're going to tell me and you're going to tell me soon and when you're not in this stupid hole."

I heard the pitter patter of his paws and soon, I saw his shadowed face through the hole. "Make me."

I snarled and then jumped into the Void and came out right behind him, scaring him out of his fur. As I sat down, he muttered, "I really hate it when you do that…" I took a glance at my surroundings; the hole was surprisingly large for being under a foundation of a house. It was a good fifteen or so feet across and three feet high, so I had to duck my head a little in order not to scrape my head along the ceiling. As I took a closer glance at the ceiling, I saw a crude arch formed by the dirt and rock. So that was how this didn't collapse?

Pushing the natural architecture of the pocket that we were both in out of my head, I turned my attention to Tai. "Now that we're face-to-face," I began sternly, "I can tell you that your mom isn't scared of Kaiyou anymore. Kaiyou talked to her for a while and now they're all right." Tai seemed to be relieved at my news, but he stiffened back up when I added, "So why do you insist on staying inside this hole?"

Tai shrugged and began to pace. "I like it here." He paused as he saw my brow quirk. He sighed and added softly, "…I got stuck."

I burst out laughing as a mental image of Tai trying to get out and getting stuck played over and over again in my mind. How ludicrous! "You got stuck?" I asked, still laughing. The jolteon growled and sat down in front of the entry way.

"I'm bigger than I remember," Tai answered, trying to defend his humiliating failed effort at trying to escape. "I thought I could get back out."

As I wiped the tears from my eyes with my clawed paws, I tried to be serious. "Tai," I began slowly, "You were about to tell me something on the hilltop." At this, Tai's fur stiffened into spikes. "What was it?"

For a while, Tai didn't say anything, so I continued. "I talked to Kazu about it, but he said that he shouldn't be the one to tell me, whatever the hell that means. What could be so important that YOU'RE the only that can tell me?"

Tai's eyes fell to the ground and he began to paw at the dirt absent-mindedly. "Well, Ayako…" he started, his voice so soft I could barely hear it, "…about what I told you… Why I'm so pissed off… Kazu… and I think that…" He stomped on the ground he had been pawing at. "No, I know." He looked up at me, a strange mix of fear and courage in his chocolate brown eyes. "I know that… I… that I'm in…" His eyes darted away from me to the side as he sucked up a huge gulp of air. I cocked my head. What could he possibly say to me that would take so much courage?

"Tai," I consoled as I began to walk towards him, "if you don't want to say it right now, you don't have to. I can see that you're not very comfortable with it."

He shook his head. "No, it's not that. I know it's true, and I have to get it out. It's just that… I've never said this to anyone before…" He slowly peeped back up at me as his ears drooped a little. "Ayako… I'm… I'm in l-"

**_-THERE YOU ARE!-_** a soaking wet Yasille cried happily. I looked up to see her wolfish black and cream colored head -mostly just her snout- poking through the small hole. **_-My brother and I are swimming in the sea and we found an entire school of dratini! They're so cute! Do you two want to come and play with them?-_**

"Sure!" I replied happily; a little school of dratini sounded so cute and fun. I turned back to Tai, who seemed really irritated, and asked, "You coming?"

He debated over my proposal for a moment, then, his face resolved into an out-of-character, genuine smile. "Sure," he replied soothingly, and stood from his crouch. "Lead the way, Xena."

I nodded uncertainly; what had gotten into him? Shrugging it off, I opened up the Void and joined Yasille in the yard. She galloped off happily, rambling on about the cute little dratini. Of course, she was much faster than we were, so we merely trotted at a comfortable pace as she raced ahead to the shore, where the dratini were jumping out of the water and playing with my Lord, his sister and, surprisingly enough, Amburna.

Giggling happily, I raced into the water, colliding into Kaiyou's side and making him lose his balance and fall into the water. Tai jumped in after me, his goofy grin on full. I smiled. Maybe he didn't get to tell me what the thing he wanted to tell me was, but I was happy to see that grin.

For some reason, that goofy-looking grin made me happier than I ever felt.

…………

Well, shucky darn and slop the chickens! Tai still didn't get to tell her. He just keeps on gettin' interrupted. Poor guy.

I think the ending of that chapter sucked. I'm not doing well with those now, am I? At least I got this chapter out before Christmas. Thanks to all of you who didn't give up on me! I love you guys!

Ja!


	32. A Little Training

Oh, dear… I haven't updated anything in a while… Just been so busy…

I've also seen the new batch of pokemon for the new games, Diamond and Pearl. Seems that Kaiyou may have a little competition for Dark Legendary. I'm not sure if it is or not, but it's grouped with them, so we'll see. Though, the two main ones are really, really cool. One's dragon/steel, and it's black, looks kinda like a dog with all these silver spikes everywhere. The other is dragon/water, and it's a pale salmon-y color. It looks okay, but not as cool as the dragon/steel.

You can thank the author of the wonderful fic _Anomaly_ for this update, for she's the one that inspired me back into it.

Anywho, on with the fic!

_**Price for Freedom**_

_**Chapter 32**_

_**A Little Bit of Training**_

I awoke in Shayla's room to the hazy morning. Lifting my head, I soon realized that I was the first one up. Shayla was sound asleep on her bed with some kind of quilt strewn about her torso and legs, Amburna was coiled up like a sapphire snake in the corner, Shoko was curled up beside her by the door. The Eevee brothers were gone, but I assumed them to be playing somewhere outside. Kaiyou had spent the night outside with his sister and Kuvai. Illauna… had disappeared. Ever since the last match, I hadn't seen her. I, on the other hand, was lying on the rug beside Shayla's bed. I stood and stretched, not really feeling like going back to sleep. Today, after all was the day of semi-finals.

I made my way out of Shayla's room to the outside, where a soft, cool breeze greeted me. Taking in a deep breath of the fresh, sea water air, my body suddenly felt rejuvenated and refreshed. Yes, today was going to be a good day!

A scent caught my nose: Auriella. I made my way to the lone hilltop where, sure enough, she was sitting, overlooking the small hamlet. She turned her head as I approached her and smiled. "Already awake?" she asked as I came to her side. "The others won't be awake for another two or three hours."

I shrugged. "I didn't feel like going back to sleep; I'm too excited."

" 'Excited?'" she repeated with a confused look. The look remained until realization washed it away. "Oh, that's right. Semi-finals are today." She chuckled and shifted her weight onto one hip. "Are you nervous?"

"Not really," I replied confidently. "We've breezed through the other matches, why should this one be any different? Besides, if we do get into trouble, Kaiyou's on our team. No trainer's pokemon there could beat him." Auriella chuckled.

"If you say so, hon," she answered as she shook her head slowly. "Regardless of your Lord, I'm sure you'll do great. You're an excellent fighter yourself."

As I sat down, I gave her a confused look. "How do you know?"

She rolled her eyes and returned her cerulean gaze to the small town below. "We DO have a television, dear. And the Hoenn Championships are no trifle. They telecast the competition, every battle." She gave me a glance as I lowered my head in embarrassment -she had mentioned watching our battles on the TV before. "We've watched all of Shayla's championships on the TV."

I rolled my shoulders to release the leftover tension from sleep. I felt rather stupid, since Shayla's parents had already said that. "Oh yeah, that's right," I replied sheepishly.

Auriella chuckled under her breath. "Still, I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you. Your opponent didn't get all the way to the Semi-Finals for nothing. They're going to be as determined as you are."

I smirked down at the hamlet below. "Maybe, but they aren't as strong, and that's what counts in the end."

Auriella did nothing the reply, simply chuckled again at my proud boast. "Whatever you say, dear."

Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted from the direction of the beach. Startled, I turned to see a black, canine shape -which could only be Kaiyou- and something else fighting on the sand. Worried that Team Magma may have found him, I raced to the shore, leaving Auriella in a shocked stupor.

However, when I got closer to the scuffle, I saw that he was battling two pokemon, not just one. I growled as I raced toward my Lord, what cowards! Pitting two pokemon against one! Not that it really mattered; Kaiyou would still be able to wipe the floor with them. For a moment, I vaguely wondered that if Kaiyou _were_ in trouble, why didn't he call for help? I shook the thought out of my head as the beach came into better view. I could ask questions later AFTER the retarded Team Magma peons were finished.

When the two enemies were in the firing range of one of my elemental attacks, I fired a flamethrower from the grassy sand dunes. Kaiyou apparently saw it coming and darted out of the way, leaving an enemy open to the flame. It landed just in front of one of the enemies, spraying hot, smoldering sand all over him. He jumped into the air and yelped.

"HOLY SHIT, THAT BURNS!!" a very familiar voice howled. The ball of still flaming sand darted into the sea water frantically. Upon colliding with the low tide, a loud hiss sounded from the ball of sand. Thinking that the cowardly bastard got what he deserved, I trotted casually toward my Lord, who had completely collapsed on the sand. Worried, I loped a bit faster, but then I heard that he wasn't in pain, he was laughing. I stopped and noticed another telekinetic laugh; Kazu lay on a rock a few yards away from me. Confused, I turned my attention back to the pokemon I had flamed.

Tai emerged from the water singed and irritated, with a tiny string of kelp caught across his drooping ear. He glared at my Lord, then at Kazu. "Okay," he began as he shook himself, which still didn't dislodge the strand of kelp, "who was the bastard with the flamethrower, hmm?" He snorted and finally saw me, standing by the still laughing Kaiyou. He glared. "Can you not tell a training session if you see one?"

I laughed nervously and pawed at the very interesting sand. "I, uh… I thought that Kaiyou was fighting for real… Sorry…"

My apology didn't seem to soothe the singed, sopping wet jolteon. " 'Sorry' won't get my fur to stop smelling like burnt Barbecue. Nor will it get all of the sand out of my ears." He scowled for a few moments, and then sighed. "Oh well… Come on, I want to keep going."

Kaiyou's ears perked and he stopped snickering. **_(All right.)_** He picked himself up and shook off some of the sand that had collected in his ebony coat. He turned his grand head down to me with a strange, wolfish grin. **_(You can go watch with Kazu. I don't think Tai would appreciate any more "help" from you.)_**

_(Ass,) _I snarled back at him as I made my way toward Kazu. He was sitting on a very comfortable-looking rock that made a great vantage point for watching the mock battle. As Kazu shifted to make room for me, he smirked and said, "I have to say, I've never seen Tai run that fast for anything other than a buffet."

"Be quiet," I snapped sulkily. I watched as Kaiyou gave some instructions on how to counter a long-range attack, which made Tai glare over his shoulder at me, and moved back a couple of steps to give the jolteon a bit of maneuvering space. Sighing, I lay down on the cool rock and followed Tai's movements as Kaiyou threw thunderbolts at him. "So… why are you three out here in the first place? I mean, whose idea was this?"

Kazu shrugged. "Tai's, really. Late last night, he talked to me about it, said that we needed to be prepared for really large, agile pokemon. Something like one of the royal Nidos, or Steelix, or large dragon pokemon, like flygon, salamence and dragonite. We talked to Kaiyou early this morning, who was more than happy to help." He paused as Tai deflected one of Kaiyou's thunderbolts with one of his own, which caused an explosion. After the sand settled, Kaiyou was no where to be seen. Confused, the damp jolteon trotted nervously around the beach, looking for the Dark Legendary. Kazu seemed confused as well, but I wasn't. I could see the very faint glow of Kaiyou's stripes in Tai's shadow.

"He's under you!" I called out nonchalantly. Tai turned to me, and cocked his head.

"What?" he called, just before Kaiyou's head sprang out of the Void, knocking the jolteon into the air. After Tai landed on his back, he growled. "No fair!"

Kaiyou, whose head was only poking out of the Void like some kind of gopher, scoffed. **_(You have to be ready for anything. Especially since, with training, any Dark can use this technique. The pokemon in the next battle may be able to, so you need to know how to counter it.) _**With that, he plunged back into the Void, leaving Tai angry and confused.

"Well, how the HELL do I counter you popping out of nowhere?" he shouted into the air. I heard Kaiyou heave a telepathic sigh -so Tai could hear- and he poked his head out of a rock face not too far from us.

**_(You are completely useless,) _**he frowned. **_(Though, I thought you already knew about the Void, what with TWO able Darks being on your team and everything…) _**

Tai growled. "Nose down, please."

Kaiyou chuckled. **_(Sorry. The main principle of the Void is that you can only go in and out through shadow. Any lighted areas are out of the question. Get it?)_**

"Yeah, I guess so…" was Tai's unsure reply. Kaiyou grinned, a strange thing on a canine face.

**_(Good!) _**my Lord chirped happily, and disappeared back into the Void. Tai took a few steps back, nervous.

"Okay, I get that you can't come out of light, but what about MY shadow? What am I supposed to do, levitate?" He looked over to us for some kind of help, but Kazu and I only shrugged.

**_(Figure it out,) _**was Kaiyou's ever-helpful advice. **_(I'm sure that head of yours holds more than cobwebs.)_**

Tai sent a bolt down at the ground in frustration. "Shut up!"

Kazu sat up, his face lit with an idea. "Tai, jump! If you jump, your shadow will weaken, and he won't be able to get through!"

Tai nodded and began jumping continuously. I started snickering; he looked absolutely ridiculous. Kaiyou began to laugh, too. **_(Good shot, but that's not the answer I was looking for.)_**

The jolteon performed another jump as he perked his ears on confusion. "Huh?"

Just as the jolteon's back feet hit the ground, Kaiyou erupted out of the sand, the jolteon caught in his jaws. While in midair, he flung Tai back into the water, and disappeared back into the Void using his own shadow. "Tai!" Kazu shouted as he scrambled off the rock and into the water. Tai managed to get out of the ocean on his own, however, and shook himself. He coughed for a little bit and glared at Kaiyou, who had emerged out of the shadow of a bush a few feet away from my spot.

"There was no need to fling me into the water!" he growled as his fur bristled into needles. "Asshole!"

**_(No need for cursing, either,) _**Kaiyou chastised, **_(Though that was a valiant effort on your part, that's not the way to counter a Dark using the Void. You're still vulnerable to when you come back down, as I just demonstrated.)_**

While Tai glowered at Kaiyou's half-emerged head, Kazu asked, "Then how does he avoid it? Is there even a way?"

_**(Oh, there's a way, don't you worry. But I'm not about to spoon-feed it to you. I'd rather have some thought go into this. So, let's try again. And this time, if I get you, I'll send you further out into the tide.)**_

Tai gaped at my Lord. "WHY!?"

Kaiyou moved his head as if he shrugged -you couldn't really tell with only his head out in the open- and smirked. **_(To give you some incentive. Here I come!) _**With that, he pulled his head back into the Void, and the game was on again.

Tai danced anxiously on the sand like they were hot coals. "What the hell do I do? WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?!"

"Calm down!" Kazu shouted from the sidelines. "Freaking out will only cause you to freeze up. Now, How can you get rid of shadow in general?"

"Uh… Put light on it….?" he answered tentatively. He glanced fearfully at the sand when Kaiyou began to happily hum the "Jaws" theme. "But he'll get me if I jump!"

It was then that I finally understood what Kaiyou wanted Tai to do. I stood and shouted, "Tai! Use Charge! Make yourself a ball of light!"

He looked at me, question and hesitation in his brown eyes. He then took in a deep breath and used the biggest Charge that I had ever seen him accomplish. Sure enough, the shadow beneath him disappeared, and Kaiyou laughed underneath us in the Void.

**_(Good, good! That's what I wanted!) _**Kaiyou praised as he emerged out of a shaded oak tree. **_(Now that you've eliminated the shadow beneath you, the Dark pokemon can only come out of the remaining shadows, which, in a lighted coliseum, will be few and far between. Just keep your eye on the remaining ones and you should be able to attack when he comes out.)_**

Tai cut the Charge attack off and sat down on the grass, panting. "Th… Thanks… I guess…"

Kaiyou chuckled as he nudged the tired jolteon with a friendly paw. **_(You did well, even though most of your ideas were thrown in by outside parties…) _**He sent a smirk at Kazu and I, who couldn't help but redden at his comment. Kaiyou stretched his back legs as he made his way off the beach and headed toward the house on the hill. He paused to look over his shoulder at us. **_(Now come on, I bet everyone else is up and ready to go. We should be getting back to Ever Grand here pretty soon.)_**

…………

Oh my God, it's done! This chapter, though small, is done! Wo0t.

Now that I have a DeviantArt account, I will be able to post pictures of Kaiyou, Yasille, Buganti/Kuvai and Shayla so that you'll finally be able to see what they look like. I only have Kaiyou's picture ready for a scanner, but it's something.

Oh, and a reviewer commented that Kaiyou was the name of a bald, annoying four year-old on Channel 13. However, his name isn't pronounced like that. It is **Kai**-yo, not Kai-**yu**. Sorry for the misunderstanding. J

I have three pages of the next chapter already written, so it should be ready within a couple of weeks at most.

Ja!


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